Missing Pieces
by CarolinaGal08
Summary: When Natalie arrived in Llanview, she thought she'd found the life and the family she had always dreamed of having. By the time she left a year and a half later, those dreams - and her spirit - appeared shattered. Twenty five years later, another fiery redhead arrives in Llanview to shake things up and put the pieces of those dreams together again.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Alright, I couldn't quite wait to get the last couple of chapters of Dear John posted before I started with this story - I promise, I'm still working hard on those chapters, but I'm also terribly impatient and wanted to start putting this one up too :-)

Background - this one is a little different than my first two stories, in that it is not focused on fixing the GH/Jolie mess. This is more of a "what if" story, sort of A/U in a sense, that came out of me watching too many old OLTL clips on youtube while we're all waiting for it to come back to life on Hulu in the spring. The start of this story goes all the way back to 2002, when it was first revealed that Jessica and Natalie were actually sisters. Future chapters will jump forward a number of years to examine what might have happened to the Buchanan family if Natalie had handled overhearing the news of the new DNA test just a little bit differently and hadn't confronted Viki about it.

The story will feature many of the main characters/relationships, and yes, there will be some Jolie as well, but it's more focused on the family dynamics than any one relationship. I don't want to give too much away - please give the concept a chance and leave a review to let me know what you think!

* * *

_October 18, 2002_

Standing in front of her bathroom mirror, Natalie Buchanan let out a shaky sigh and examined her haggard appearance. It had been hours since she'd discovered that her world was possibly about to be pulled out from underneath her once again, but she still wasn't sure the possibility had quite sunk in yet.

At twenty-one years old, she thought that she had finally figured out who she was. Natalie Balsom had never felt like who she was supposed to be, but Natalie Buchanan - the life she'd been leading for the past year felt right, and she knew it had nothing to do with the money that now sat in her bank accounts. Was it really possible that she'd been lied to yet again? That Allison Perkins had somehow manipulated her into believing she was someone she wasn't?

She'd let her guard down, and she'd let Viki and Bo and Cristian and even Jessica, to some extent, in…and now it looked like she learning exactly why Roxy had always told her she couldn't trust anyone.

"You should have known better. Nothing good ever happens to someone like you," she whispered to her reflection, her mind drifting back to the conversation she'd overheard that morning…

_She'd just set her purse down in the entryway when she heard Viki's voice coming from the library. Eavesdropping was rude, she'd already been cautioned about that by her mother on more than one occasion over the past year. Still, there was something in her tone of voice that made Natalie linger outside the door._

_"The thing is, I cannot go on like this," she heard her mother say. "I cannot live like this. One way or another, I have to know."_

_Frowning, Natalie stepped closer to the door as she heard her uncle echo her thoughts of confusion._

_"Well, what do you suspect?" Bo asked._

_"I think that I might be Jessica's biological mother after all."_

_"Viki…" Bo said cautiously._

_"I know how crazy it sounds, Bo," Viki assured him. "But Roxanne never had a daughter. She isn't Jessica's mother."_

_"I just don't want you to get your hopes up."_

_"One way or the other, someone will be hurt," Viki said. "That's why you cannot let Jessica or Natalie know about this DNA test."_

Natalie shook her head and turned away from the mirror. Even then, even as she'd retreated up the stairs to her bedroom to nurse the wounds of her mother's rejection, she hadn't believed that the DNA test would show anything other than what she'd known ever since that fateful call from Allison two years earlier - that she really was Clint and Viki's daughter. She belonged in this family.

It hadn't been until that evening, just an hour earlier, as she once again stood outside that library door and broke the rule against eavesdropping, that she'd even for a second questioned what that test would show…

_She'd quietly followed Jessica to the doorway, hoping to confront both her mother and pseudo-sister about the ridiculous DNA test, but stepped back unseen when she realized that Bo was standing there with an envelope in his hands._

_"Mom?" Jessica asked in confusion as she looked to Viki, having caught only the tail end of the conversation she'd interrupted. "Why is Uncle Bo talking about a DNA test?"_

_Viki sighed. "A few days ago, I learned that Roxanne is not your biological mother."_

_"What?"_

_"Roxanne's husband stole a baby from the hospital and brought her home," Viki said. "Roxanne never had a daughter."_

_"So who's my mother?" Jessica asked. "Wait…Uncle Bo said your DNA was being tested. Are you saying that there's a chance that I'm really your daughter after all?"_

_"I don't know," Viki admitted. "It's just a feeling, but I had to know for sure. Sweetheart, I didn't want to get your hopes up, not when it's still such a long shot."_

_Natalie noticed that Jessica was shaking almost as badly as she was when she turned to her uncle. Natalie quickly took a step backward, ducking behind the door to avoid being seen._

_"Well, Uncle Bo?" Jessica asked anxiously. "What did the test results show? Is Mom really my biological mother?"_

_"Yes," Bo said, with a smile that Natalie didn't need to see to know was there. "Yes, Viki is your biological mother, Jessie."_

_"Oh my God," Jessica gasped. "So this whole year, this whole thing…I knew Natalie wasn't trustworthy, but this just beyond…how did she manage to fool us all so completely?"_

Natalie hadn't bothered to stick around much past that point. She knew enough to know that the blame would come fast, and it would come hard. She didn't imagine that there was any amount of protesting that she could do to convince anyone that she hadn't known the first DNA test was wrong.

"How could I be so stupid?" she muttered to herself, stepping back into her bedroom and taking one last look around before grabbing the half-empty duffel bag off the floor and slinging it over her shoulder. Reaching into the pocket, she took out the sealed envelope and dropped it onto the bed. One more stop, one last goodbye, and she'd be on her way to putting the past year's upheaval - the good and the bad - behind her.

"Goodbye, Llanfair," she whispered to the room. "It was nice while it lasted."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Thank you all so much for the reviews and follows on the first chapter! As I hinted at in the story summary, this chapter picks up twenty-five years later. I tried to imagine the impact on the show's storylines if Natalie hadn't been around, so you may notice that while many things are the same, there are some differences in our characters' lives too. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

As a side note for those also reading Dear John, I expect to have the next chapter to that story up in a day or two.

* * *

_September 23, 2027_

Clint Buchanan leaned against the doorjamb at the entrance to the Llanfair library and frowned as he watched his wife standing in front of the shelf across the room. Slowly, she reached her hand out and picked up a frame, gently running her fingers over the glass that protected the only picture they had of her with both of their daughters. Viki always had trouble in October, remembering the day that Natalie had left before she could learn the whole truth, but he knew that today - Natalie and Jessica's birthday - was by far the hardest.

Deciding she'd had enough alone time for the evening, Clint quietly walked up behind her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It really is a beautiful picture," he commented.

Viki nodded solemnly, not bothering to look up from the image of her with both of her daughters on their twenty-first birthday. "I wish you and the boys had been there too," she said. "I wish we had even one picture of all four of our children together, Clint."

"I know. I do too," Clint agreed sadly. "I can't tell you how many times I've regretted not coming back to Llanview sooner. Putting my own need to be angry ahead of getting to know my own child…if I had thought for one second that there wouldn't be years and years to get to know Natalie…"

"You would have come back, I know," Viki said, placing her hand over his. "And as soon as she went missing, you came home. I'd like to think that if we'd ever been able to find her, that would have meant something to her."

"Hard to believe our girls are forty-six today," Clint said, taking the picture from Viki's hand and placing it back on the shelf.

Viki nodded silently, reaching out and picking up the picture again, staring at it for a moment before flipping it over and removing the faded sheet of stationery taped to the back.

"Viki…" Clint cautioned gently. "Haven't you read that enough times?"

Viki shrugged as she took the page back to the couch and sat down. "I like to see her handwriting," she said. "It reminds me that she was really here for a while."

Clint sighed and took a seat next to her as she flipped open the sheet and looked down at the words she'd long ago committed to memory.

_Dear Viki,_

_I wish I knew what to say in a letter like this. I heard what Bo had to say this evening, that Jessica really is your daughter, so I figured I'd leave now and save you the trouble of kicking me out like you wanted to do when I first came here. Don't worry, I've tried not to take anything that I didn't bring me with when I came. I still have the car which I bought from the trust fund money, but I promise, as soon as I can, I'll send money to you back for that._

_I know you and Jessica have no reason to believe me, but for what it's worth, I want you to know that I didn't know. I'm not pretending that if Allison had come to me and told me this was all a scam, I wouldn't have still gone along with it - but until just a few minutes ago, I honestly believed that this wasn't a scam, that the first DNA test had been true, and that I really was your daughter. I guess I should have known it was too good to be true, but for a little while, I got to feel what it was like to be part of a real family, and that's something I will always remember._

_You won't need to worry about me stirring up any more trouble. I promise, I have no intention of ever coming near your family, or even Llanview, again. It would just hurt too much, I think. Allison really did it this time, didn't she?_

_I hope someday you can forgive me for being part of this. I mean it when I say I will never forget you, or how kind you were to me while I was here._

_Natalie_

"She just sounded so defeated," Viki said, setting down the letter. "I wish we'd been able to track her down."

"I still don't understand that," Clint agreed. "We know after she left, she went to visit Cristian Vega, and then went as far as Atlantic City, but after that, it's like she dropped off the face of the planet."

"She was very resourceful," Viki said, wiping a tear from her cheek as she remembered her daughter. "She was an awful lot like you and Asa, really. She had more of that Buchanan spirit than any of our children. Once she set her mind to something, there was no changing it, no matter how much you tried. She was very determined."

Clint sighed and wrapped his arm around Viki's shoulder, planting a kiss on her forehead as he pulled her to him. "Now come on, Jessie and Brody will be here with the kids any minute for her birthday dinner," he said, holding out a handkerchief to his wife. "You don't want them to find you here crying again, do you?"

Viki smiled sadly and shook her head as she accepted the handkerchief. "No, of course not," she said. "Jessica worries too much about us as it is. I just wish…Clint, do you think she's alright? Wherever she ended up, do you think Natalie's okay?"

Clint was silent for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, I do," he said, wrapping his arm around Viki. "If she's got as much Buchanan in her as you've always said she does, I know she's alright."

* * *

Roxanne Balsom glanced around the dimly lit lobby of the Angel Square Hotel, smiling when she saw that she was completely alone. Reaching under the front desk, she pulled out a small flask and quickly took a swig before tucking it back behind the rent books. Turning away from the door, she sat down and propped her feet up on a stool before reaching for the tablet computer and turning it on.

"Damn technology," she muttered when the screen stalled. "Leave it to Shane to give me one that's bust. Now how am I supposed to watch Fraternity Row today?"

Roxy shook her head and continued fussing with the machine, not paying any attention when a young woman approached the desk and cleared her throat.

"Not now, Rex, this things broke again," Roxy said with a distracted wave of her hand.

"Sorry, not Rex."

Roxy nearly dropped the tablet in her hands at the sound of the voice. "Natalie," she whispered in shock.

"Excuse me?" the young woman asked. "I didn't hear you."

Roxy shook her head as she spun the chair around to face her. For a few moments, she just sat there, staring at the young woman in front of her - mid-twenties, flaming red hair, slender figure. Roxy reached out and grabbed the flask from the shelf, shaking it slightly to make sure she hadn't consumed more than she thought she had.

"Are you alright?" the woman asked hesitantly.

"Sweet buttery baby Joseph," Roxy muttered. "I'm hallucinating."

The redhead frowned and furrowed her brow in concern. "Do you need me to call you a doctor?"

Roxy didn't answer as she stared harder, trying to distinguish anything that would tell her she wasn't losing her mind. Finally, she settled on the eyes. They were dark gray, not blue. And the hair - it was wavy, almost curly, not straight like she remembered.

Quickly shaking her head, Roxy smiled. "What can I do for you, honey?"

"Are you sure you're alright?"

"Other than not being able to watch my show because this stupid computer thing is busted, I'm just fine," Roxy assured her. "So, you need a room?"

The young woman nodded. "They told me down at the student union that you have discounts for Llanview University students?"

"Sure do," Roxy said. "Only by the term, though. You staying that long?"

"Classes start this week, so at least until Christmas, yes."

"Well all right then," Roxy said, reaching for her rent book. "You got a student ID?"

"I just enrolled today," the woman said as she shook her head, pulling out a piece of paper. "I've got my acceptance letter, though."

"That'll do." Roxy held out her hand for the document that the young woman readily handed her. "Well I'll be damned," she muttered, looking down at the paperwork. "McBain, huh? We used to have a McBain here."

"Michael," the woman said knowingly. "He's my uncle."

"Hot damn, you're Mikey's niece?" Roxy exclaimed, tossing the letter over her shoulder. "Why the hell didn't you say so?"

"Um…I guess I didn't think it was important."

"Not important?" Roxy laughed. "Mikey's practically family, sweetie. You know, if my daughter had been around when Mikey lived here, I know he would have married her instead of Marcie Walsh. It was all bad timing, that's it, just bad timing. A few years earlier, and you and me would have been family, kid. What did you say your name was?"

"Carly, ma'am," the young woman smiled and extended her hand across the desk. "Carly McBain."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** My apologies for taking so long to get this posted! I've been working hard to wrap up Dear John (it's nearly there, I promise!), and I guess I overestimated the amount of time I'd have to work on two separate stories. So, a little bit more delayed than I would have liked, but it's time to get this storyline moving. This chapter has our first glimpse of the real reason Carly has come to Llanview. I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Early the next morning, Carly stood in the center of the small living room and frowned as she inspected the space she'd be calling home for the next few months. It was small, but still quite a bit bigger than the cramped studio apartment she'd had in New York, and she certainly couldn't argue with the low price - she had a strong suspicion that the crazy lady downstairs had given her a steep discount out of some remembered fondness for her uncle, and she wasn't about to argue with it.

Still, despite the couldn't-be-beat price and the extra space, there was something missing in the space. She couldn't quite put her finger on it - maybe it was a bit of old charm or a spark of inspiration. Whatever it was, she figured it would come to her eventually. In the meantime, it was at least livable.

Grabbing a small box from the pile near the door, she pried open the top and pulled out the pictures that she knew would make the place feel a bit more like home. She smiled as she set them side by side on a shelf above the desk and let herself get lost in the memories they evoked - prom night with her best friend; her uncle and his family at Christmas; her brother in a school play; her sisters at their first communion; her baby brothers at Halloween, dressed as some cartoon characters she'd never heard of, but still looking ridiculously cute.

Picking up the last frame from the box, her smile faded as she held it in her hands and looked down at the image of her mother with her arms wrapped around a much younger version of herself. They'd had nothing but each other back then, but she'd been so incredibly happy. Looking at her own trusting smile, Carly sighed sadly. That little girl had no idea that her whole life was built on a lie. "So naive," she muttered, shaking her head. Feeling the tears starting to prick at her eyes, she quickly put the frame back in the box and shoved the whole thing into the back of the closet before she could dwell on it any further.

Taking a deep breath to steady herself, she ran her fingers through her hair and looked around the room for something to do next. Catching sight of the faded dining brochure on the coffee table, she picked it up and shrugged. "Guess breakfast couldn't hurt," she said to herself, opening the booklet and flipping through it aimlessly, pausing when a name caught her eye.

"The _Buenos Dias_, a Llanview favorite," she read aloud, shaking her head as she skimmed the description of the menu. "In a town as white as this one, somehow I doubt the tamales are authentic," she scoffed. "Let's see what else they say…run by the Vega family for over thirty years…"

Carly nearly dropped the brochure as she read the name again and her mind inadvertently drifted back to the last time she'd seen her mother…

_Carly hesitated as she stood outside the door of her mother's bedroom. Looking down at the picture her mother had given her that morning, she took a deep breath and pushed the door open._

_Natalie McBain smiled wearily as her oldest daughter walked into the room. "Carly," she said quietly, setting down the book she'd been reading and shifting slightly so that she was sitting up as much as possible. "I'm glad you came back."_

_"I want to know his name," Carly said, figuring it was best to cut straight to the point._

_"I know you're angry, and you have every right to be," Natalie said. "But please, can't we just talk for a minute? I want to explain."_

_"His name, Mom," Carly insisted. "You owe me at least that much."_

_Natalie nodded. "I know," she said. "I only ever wanted you to be happy, you have to know that. I don't expect you to understand what it was like, what the situation was…I was only trying to do right by everyone involved."_

_"Save me the excuses, Mom, I don't really care," Carly interrupted bitterly._

_Natalie sighed and leaned back against her pillows, shutting her eyes for a moment before turning her head to look away from her daughter. "Do you think you'll ever be able to forgive me?"_

_Carly hesitated, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at her mother. "No," she finally said, her tone laced with bitterness. "No, I don't think so."_

_Natalie bit back her tears and nodded in resignation. "Alright," she said sadly, turning back to look at Carly again, studying her for a moment, as though she sensed that that might be the last time she would see her. "Cristian," she whispered softly. "His name is Cristian Vega."_

* * *

Across the street from the Angel Square Hotel, two teenage boys lurked in the shadows and watched the entrance carefully.

"What about that one?" the younger one asked anxiously as an older woman left the building.

"That woman's about two hundred years old," his partner scoffed. "How are we supposed to look tough if we're going after grandmas? No, we've got to have a much more specific profile."

"Come on, Ryder, we've been out here for an hour already, can't you just pick someone?"

"Hey, you're the one who insisted on tagging along this time, Drew," Ryder pointed out. "So either suck it up or go home and keep your mouth shut."

"Fine," Drew muttered. "Hey, check that one out!"

Ryder followed Drew's gaze and watched as a pretty young redhead stepped out of the hotel and turned toward the square's center. She was moving slowly enough to still be in range, and her purse was dangling from her hand, as though asking for it to be snatched.

"Yeah," he said with a smile. "She'll do nicely. Alright, you hang back and watch how this is done, kid. You might learn something today after all."

Drew frowned at being shoved off to the side again. This was definitely not what he'd had in mind when they had skipped school that morning. Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched impatiently as Ryder pulled the hood of his sweatshirt up over his head and then, with a quick glance around to make sure no one else was nearby, darted across the street toward his target.

Drew grinned as he watched Ryder's hand reach out from behind the unsuspecting woman and grab the strap of her purse. Sixty more seconds and he'd have the bag out of her hand and the two of them would be sprinting back toward the alley to inspect their haul. Instead, the young woman's grip tightened on the strap as she yanked it forward, pulling Ryder with it as she spun around, taking only a millisecond to pull her fist back and connect it squarely with his jaw.

"Oh crap," Drew muttered as his cousin hit the ground. "This is _not_ gonna end well."


	4. Chapter 4

Jessica Lovett rolled her eyes as she walked into the Buenos Dias Cafe and spotted her two brothers sitting across from each other in a booth in the back of the restaurant. Taking a breath, she quickly walked over, tossing her purse onto the bench before sliding in next to Joey.

"Alright, make it quick," she said, reaching across the table and grabbing Kevin's coffee cup. "I have to be at the office in half an hour for an editorial board meeting."

"Well, good morning to you too, little miss sunshine," Kevin said, arching at eyebrow at his brother.

"Oh don't give me that look," Jessica snapped. "You two are the ones who called this little pow-wow. If you did that just to make fun of me, you better watch yourselves. I'll have Dad transfer both of you back to the London office."

Joey shook his head. "Now that's not nice. Kevin's been back a year, I've been back six months, and you're already trying to get rid of us?"

"I still don't understand why you both suddenly came back," Jessica said. "You live for what, two decades, in London and all of a sudden you're both back. I don't know how I feel about that."

"I told you, Kelly wanted to be home to help Dorian," Joey said. "She didn't trust David to take care of her."

Jessica nodded, remembering the terrible stroke that stricken the former senator shortly before her death a few months ago. "I wouldn't trust David Vickers to take care of a plant, let alone a human being."

"Yeah, but what about Dorian?" Kevin asked, earning glares from his brother and sister. "Too soon?"

"Way too soon," Jessica said. "And what was your excuse? Dad never did say why you were coming back to Llanview."

"Dad's only a few years younger than Grandpa was when he…you know," Kevin said. "He shouldn't still have all that stress of running BE. I figured it was time to come home and take some of the load off of him. With all his health problems, I was worried about him."

"Not to mention, it was a great excuse to get away from the little Irish girl," Joey said.

"The what?"

"The pretty young thing who broke his heart right before he left," Joey said. "I think she was about fifteen, wasn't she, Kevin?"

Kevin glared at him. "She was twenty nine, thank you very much."

"There was a _girl_?" Jessica asked incredulously. "Joseph Riley Buchanan! He's been home for a year, and you're just _now_ mentioning that there was a girl involved?"

"Why am I in trouble?" Joey protested. "Kevin's the one who proposed to the maid!"

"She was the maid? And wait…you _proposed_?" Jessica asked, her jaw practically on the floor. "And no one thought to mention this for an entire year?!"

"And I'd rather we not mention it now, either," Kevin said. "Can we get back to what we're here for?"

"Absolutely not," Jessica said, shaking her head as she leaned back in her seat and stared at her brother. "You've lived like a monk for so long, I'd almost given up hope, Kevin! I mean, I don't think I've heard about so much as a date in at least fifteen years, and now all of a sudden you tell me there's not only a girl, but that you've asked her to marry you?"

"_I_ didn't tell you anything," Kevin pointed out. "But just so we can get it out there and move on, yes, there was a woman I was seeing in London. Yes, she was a _little_ bit younger than me. We dated for about a year, I asked her to marry me, she said no. End of story."

"Why did she say no?" Jessica asked, staring at Kevin before turning to Joey. "Joey, why did she say no?"

"Beats me," Joey shrugged. "It can't have been the ring. He dropped fifty grand on it."

"Are you serious?"

Joey nodded. "I actually thought she'd say yes. For some reason I can't figure out, she actually seemed to like this old man here."

Jessica was about to say something else when her cell phone buzzed with an incoming text message. Glancing down at her phone, her eyes grew wide and she gasped.

"What's wrong?" Joey asked.

"That was from Antonio…I have to go," Jessica said, quickly gathering her purse and standing up. "Ryder's been arrested for attempted robbery."

Joey and Kevin exchanged a look of surprise as Jessica rushed out of the diner. "What the hell happened to that kid?" Joey asked. "Last I remember, he was a perfectly happy little boy, but all of a sudden this past year, he's gone off the rails."

"You know how Jess and Brody could never figure out the right time to tell him that Brody wasn't actually his biological father?" Kevin asked.

"Wait a minute. The kid's sixteen, and he _still_ doesn't know the truth?"

"Oh, he knows," Kevin said. "Problem is, Jessica and Brody weren't the ones who told him. He figured it out in biology class when his blood type wasn't compatible with theirs."

"Aw man, poor kid," Joey sighed. "No wonder he's acting out."

"I'm not saying I blame him for being upset, but he's taken it a little too far," Kevin said. "Let's just hope Jessica can get him back on the straight and narrow before he goes and gets himself killed."

* * *

Carly stared incredulously at the man in front of her. "I'm sorry, you want me to agree to do what?"

"Not press charges," the man repeated slowly. "I know you feel wronged here, and you have every right to, but he's sixteen years old. Nothing was actually stolen, and you already broke his nose, so really, there's nothing to be gained by pressing charges."

"Are you his father?" Carly asked.

"No, I'm not," he said. "I…"

"Then where the hell do you get off trying to interfere with an investigation?" Carly asked. "I should have you arrested for obstruction of justice!"

The man shook his head and smiled. "I suppose we haven't been properly introduced," he said, extending his hand. "Antonio Vega. I'm the police commissioner."

Carly frowned and crossed her arms over her chest, ignoring his outstretched hand. "You think that excuses anything? I don't care who you are, or whose kid that boy is, I'm still pressing charges."

"Why do you think this has anything to do with his parents?" Antonio asked.

"I'm not stupid," Carly said. "When the commissioner is trying to get a teenager out of trouble, it always has to do with the parents. So what is he, a cop's kid? Or are his parents big contributors to the mayor's reelection campaign?"

"How old are you?" Antonio asked, staring at her skeptically.

"Old enough," Carly said. "My dad's a homicide detective and my mom was detective-in-charge at the NYPD crime lab. I know the way this works, so which is it?"

Antonio sighed. "Both," he admitted. "That boy's father is one of my detectives, and his mother's family is very influential in this town."

Carly nodded. "I understand," she said. "It's a little bigger scale in New York, but politics are pretty much the same anywhere."

"I'm glad you agree," Antonio said. "His parents will be very relieved to hear that…"

"Oh, don't misunderstand me," Carly interrupted quickly. "I understand why you're doing what you're doing, but I am pressing charges."

"But…"

"Look, Commissioner, I don't want to get you in trouble, but you can tell that kid that he can take the silver spoon he was born with and shove it where the sun don't shine," Carly said. "Maybe if everyone stopped coddling him, he'd grow up and realize that he doesn't know a damn thing about the real world or life on the streets. If he thinks that my fist hurts, he should try a pocketknife in the ribcage or a bullet in the knee, because that's what he's liable to get if he keeps trying to belong to a world he doesn't belong to. So maybe a little time in a courtroom, a little lesson that not everybody cares who his daddy is or how much money his mommy has, maybe that'll do him some good and force him to wake the hell up. Who knows? I might just be saving his pathetic little life. You tell his parents they can thank me later."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Anyone else see the new recap video/trailer for the online OLTL? SO excited! I must have watched it at least half a dozen times yesterday, trying to piece together clues about what storylines we can expect based on what they showed in the trailer. I was a little concerned early on with the news that the producers wanted to be "edgier" and focus more the young characters, but everything I'm hearing in terms of spoilers and now this trailer, has me very excited and happy about what's to come! I won't say much more, in case some of you haven't read the teasers about what's coming up...less than a month to go now!

In the meantime, back to my own little version of Llanview...

* * *

"I just don't know what to do with him, Mom," Jessica sighed, sinking down into the couch in the library as her mother poured herself a cup of tea across the room. Between the ER visit to stitch up her son's face, and then the police station for processing and bail, it had been a long morning. "It's like nothing I say or do makes any difference. He's hell bent on destroying his life to get back at me, and he's doing a good job of it."

"Oh sweetheart, he's confused," Viki said. "He just needs time, but he'll come around. Try to imagine yourself in his shoes. Ryder has idolized Brody his whole life, and now all of a sudden, he feels like that connection has been taken away."

"But it hasn't," Jessica insisted. "Brody loves Ryder and Bree, it's never mattered to him that he wasn't their biological father. And Bree, she's never gone off the rails like this."

"No, but it was different with Bree," Viki pointed out. "You _wanted_ her to know Nash, and you and Brody have always made an effort to ensure that she knew that Nash was her biological father. With Bree, it was very much like with your brothers, Kevin and Joey - they always knew that Joe was their father, but Clint was their dad in every way that mattered. And they knew that Joe would have been there if he could have, just like Nash would have been."

"If it hadn't been for that con artist Jared," Jessica said bitterly. "I just wish that Nash had come to me when he found out that Jared wasn't really a Buchanan, instead of trying to confront him. Maybe then he'd still be here for her."

"Maybe," Viki agreed, leaning forward and setting her tea cup on the coffee table. "But then, would you have Ryder? You certainly wouldn't have Brody."

Jessica sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. "It would have been simpler, that's for sure. I love Ryder more than life itself, but I wouldn't have a teenager hell bent on ending up with a life sentence in Statesville. Mom, I'm just…I'm so scared for him. I know I screwed up, I know I should have told him the truth years ago. I was so afraid of the type of father that Robert Ford would have been, that when that DNA test came back…well, you were there at the wedding when Vimal came in. There was just never a good time to tell Ryder."

"And now he's confused by all of it," Viki said.

"I feel like I could help him if he'd just listen to me," Jessica said. "It's not like I don't know what it feels like to suddenly find out that your family isn't who you've always thought they were. I mean, when Natalie showed up, it wasn't just my father who wasn't my father, I thought I'd lost both my parents."

"You never lost us, Jessica," Viki insisted. "Even when we thought there was no DNA connection, you were always our daughter."

"And Brody's telling Ryder the same thing," Jessica said. "But it took me a while to really get it, Mom. I hated Natalie for stealing my life, for taking my family away, even if that wasn't the way it was. It took me a long time to see that no matter where Natalie fit into the family, it wasn't in my place. I never felt betrayed like Ryder does, but I certainly know the confusion that he's feeling. You know what's funny?"

"What?"

"The other night, I actually found myself thinking that I wish Natalie were here to talk to Ryder."

Viki frowned in surprise. "Really?"

"I mean, I always wish that Natalie were here," Jessica said quickly. "I still feel guilty about the way she left. If I hadn't made her feel so unwelcome in what really was her home, maybe she wouldn't have run off so quickly when she thought things had changed."

"Sweetheart, we've been through this," Viki said. "We all shoulder our own share of the blame for what happened to your sister. We can't change the past. All we can do is pray that someday she comes home and we have the chance to make it up to her."

Jessica nodded. "When she came to Llanview, she was so angry. It was like she hated the whole world, and didn't care if she destroyed it all. And I look at my son…I see the same kind of anger and bitterness in his eyes that I used to see in hers, and that scares me, Mom. I know you got through that with Natalie, and by the end of that year, I didn't see that anymore. I just don't know _how_ you did that, _how_ you got rid of that anger. I feel like if Natalie were here, maybe she'd have some magic words to snap him out of it."

Viki shook her head. "Oh Jessie, there are no magic words. Believe me, I wish there were," she said. "Natalie didn't just snap out it one day, it was a long and gradual process…and not one that I'm confident wasn't completely undone the second she believed she wasn't really a Buchanan."

"So what do I do?" Jessica asked.

"You do the only thing that you can do," Viki said. "The same thing I did with you, and with your brothers, and that I tried to do with Natalie. You support your child, you offer guidance and shoulder to cry on when they need it. When they make mistakes - and every child does - you don't condone them, you don't try to make them go away. When your child is trouble, you let him handle the consequences - and be there, right by his side, to love him through it."

* * *

Carly could feel herself still fuming as she walked into the brand-new art building at Llanview University that afternoon for her appointment. Pausing in the lobby, she took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. This, after all, was why she had come to Llanview in the first place. The incident this morning was nothing more than an annoying distraction, and not one that she was willing to let distract her from her purpose.

"Get it together, Carly," she whispered to herself, taking a moment to look around the lobby. The walls were lined with paintings done by the team of artists running the university's newly created visual arts program, and a small display case in the corner showcased the media coverage of the building's recent dedication.

_Publisher Victoria Lord Dedicates University Art Building_, read the headline above a photograph of a smiling older woman standing in front of a ribbon holding a giant pair of scissors. The article below described the multi-million dollar endowment donated by the Lord and Buchanan families to fund the art program, and ended with a single sentence that summed up the entire reason Carly had selected Llanview University - _World-renowned artist and Llanview native Cristian Vega, who has spent the past fifteen years teaching in Spain, will return home to accept a position as director of the new program._

"Must be nice to have that sort of money," Carly muttered to herself, shaking her head and pressing her portfolio up against her chest as she stepped back and looked around the lobby again.

"Carly McBain?"

Carly felt her breath catch at the sound of the man's voice behind her. Something about it was eerily familiar to her, and yet entirely new at the same time. Turning around, she forced herself to breath normally as she came face to face with the man she'd been waiting her whole life to meet.

"Professor Vega?" she said tentatively.

For his part, Cristian Vega was nearly as affected by Carly's appearance as she was by his. He could have sworn he felt his heart stop as he watched her turn, looking every bit the spitting image of the woman who had haunted his dreams, and his art, for at least a decade after her disappearance. For a moment, the two stood there, staring at each, both trying to come up with the right thing to say.

"I, um, I brought over the portfolio you asked for in your email," Carly said.

Cristian nodded. "The partial portfolio you submitted with your application was impressive," he said, still not taking his eyes off her as he took the folder she held out to him.

"Thank you, Professor Vega."

"Oh, please call me Cristian," he said quickly. "They may have given me this fancy program to run, but teaching art requires a certain level of familiarity, not formality."

"Right," Carly nodded. "Well, I hope that the rest of the portfolio doesn't disappoint you, Prof…Cristian."

"I'm sure it won't," he said, flipping open the folder. "You show a remarkable level of raw talent. It's unusual for someone without formal training. You're sure you didn't already go to art school and forgot to mention it?"

Carly laughed and shook her head. "Dad never would have stood for it," she said. "He's the only reason I was getting a nursing degree before I dropped out of school. He always said art wasn't a sustainable career, it was a privilege of wealthier classes - which we definitely weren't a part of."

"My mother was always a bit hesitant about my art career when I was younger," Cristian said sympathetically. "It took her a while to come around, even after I started having some success with it. Sometimes I think she still wishes I'd gone for a more traditional career path like my brother, who's a cop."

"Oh, my mom was always very supportive," Carly said, breaking into an involuntary smile. "She loved my paintings, had them up all over the house. She told me she always knew she'd see me in a gallery someday. She thought it was an inherited trait."

"Is your mother an artist?"

"No, definitely not," Carly said with a chuckle. "Mom was lucky if she could do stick figures. No, she was a cop."

"Oh, I'm sorry," Cristian said.

"Why? What's wrong with being a cop?"

"What? Nothing," Cristian assured her. "It's just, you said she _was_ a cop, so I assumed…"

"Oh, no, Mom's not dead," Carly said quickly. "She's just…well, she's had some problems, so she hasn't been working for the last few years, so I guess I don't really think of her being a cop anymore. But she's not dead."

"Well, that's good to hear," Cristian said, hesitating for a moment as he watched her tuck her hair nervously behind both ears. "I'm sorry…are you sure you've never been to Llanview before?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's nothing, it's just…well, you look so much like a woman I used to know," Cristian explained. "It's like you could be her twin…or maybe her child."

Carly smiled nervously. "Yeah, well, I guess I must have a familiar face," she said. "I've been getting that a lot. Even your brother said that to me this morning."

"You met Antonio?" Cristian asked in surprise.

Carly rolled her eyes and nodded. "You could say that. He tried to talk me out of pressing charges against some stupid kid who tried to steal my purse," she said. "Honestly, I was a cop's kid too, but if I'd ever done something stupid like that, my parents would have been the first to insist that charges be pressed, not be trying to get the police commissioner to use his influence to get me off."

"That doesn't sound like Antonio at all. Whose kid was it?"

Carly shrugged. "Beats me. I think the little deviant's name was Ryden or Ryder or something like that."

"Ryder Lovett?"

"Yeah, that's the one."

Cristian nodded. "That makes sense then. Ryder is Jessica Buchanan's kid, and even after everything that's happened, Antonio's always had a soft spot for her."

"Everything that's happened?" Carly asked curiously.

"Oh, it was a long time ago," Cristian said. "She's his ex-wife, basically. It didn't end well, but we're talking probably twenty years ago. They get on well enough now…and yeah, Antonio probably would go out a limb like that for Ryder. But I take it from your tone that you're still going to press charges?"

"Damn straight I am," Carly said. "I didn't come here to cause problems, but I'm not about to let him get away with that just because his mommy has money or his daddy's a cop, especially since I get the feeling it wasn't the first time he's done it."

"You won't get much argument from me," Cristian said, straightening up the folder in his hands. "Alright, well, I'm going to review your portfolio, and we'll meet again after our first class later this week."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **An unusually quick update, I know. But I'll be leaving town for about two weeks starting tomorrow and may not have internet access, so I wanted to get this out there for you all now rather than just disappearing for two weeks with no explanation. I hope you all enjoy the new chapter, and as always, don't forget to review and let me know what you think!

* * *

Cristian smiled as he walked into his house that evening and was nearly bowled over by an energetic blonde ten year old. Gripping tightly to his stack of portfolios with one arm, he laughed as he wrapped the other around his daughter.

"You're my favorite dad, you know that?" the little girl asked, looking up at him with a grin.

Cristian shook his head. He knew that look all too well. "Mija, whatever your mother told you is what I say too," he said.

"But Daddy…"

"Isabella, if your mama told you no, then that's what I say," he said as he watched her smile transform into a pout. "And if she told you to do something and you want me to tell you that you don't have, that's no going to happen either. Now, does Daddy get a kiss after a long day at school?"

"No!"

Cristian looked up at the sound of his wife's laughter as their daughter stormed up the stairs to her room. He winced when the sound of her door slamming shut echoed through the house.

"I thought we had a few more years until we hit teenage tantrums," Cristian said, stepping into the kitchen and setting the portfolios on the table before turning around to kiss his wife on the cheek. "What exactly did you tell her she couldn't do, Erin?"

"All I told her was she couldn't go sleep over at your mother's this weekend if she didn't clean her room up first," Erin said. "I didn't think it was that unreasonable."

"I agree with you," Cristian said. "But if she doesn't get that room clean, it's not her temper you'll have to worry about - it's my mother's."

Erin smiled. "I'll just tell her to be nice or I'll take her granddaughter right back to Spain. She's only got two, and with Jamie off at college…"

"You devious little blackmailer," Cristian laughed. "I knew there was a reason I loved you."

Erin shook her head and blushed as she sat down at the kitchen table and reached out to straighten up the portfolios, pausing when she caught sight of a drawing that was sticking out of one.

"Cris, are these student works?" she asked curiously.

"Yup," he said, digging around in the refrigerator as he spoke. "Mostly the same old, same old. There are a couple of really promising ones in the mix this year, though."

"This one is incredible," Erin said, almost reverently, as she pulled a sketch out of the first portfolio. "Tragic, but very powerful."

Cristian frowned and closed the refrigerator as he turned toward the table. He loved Erin, and he knew she loved him, but just as he could never understand her fascination with the history she taught, she had never attempted to feign an understanding of, or even an interest in, the art world. Her assessment of the works he'd bring home rarely wavered from the generic, whether it was "pretty" or "ugly" or some other variation of those basic themes, so to hear her express an interest in any work was an unexpected occurrence.

"Whose is this?" she asked, handing Cristian the piece.

Looking down at the sketch, Cristian didn't have to look for the signature in the lower corner to know who had drawn the image of the frightened young woman, alone on a busy city street, a child pressed to her chest.

"Carly McBain," he said. "She's a new student, just starting this term. No formal training at all, believe it or not. She's one of the more promising students I've seen in a while, though."

"Her technique reminds me a bit of yours," Erin observed, flipping through a few of the other sketches. "Not her aesthetic, though. These are all very…well, dark isn't quite the right word. I'd almost say they've got a social commentary to them, but they feel very personal."

"Well, artistic motive is one of the first things we cover in class, so I'll get back to you on that," Cristian said. "You really like them?"

"They're beautifully done," Erin said. "And don't look at me like that, Cristian Vega. Just because I don't do it often, does not mean that I am incapable of appreciating good art when I see it. I _always_ appreciate your art."

"Yes, but that's about it," Cristian pointed out. "I can't remember the last time you commented on one of the student pieces I've brought home."

Erin shrugged. "Maybe my taste is maturing," she said. "Who knows? I did say she reminds me of you, didn't I?"

* * *

Carly groaned at the sound of someone banging on her door. Setting down her paintbrush, she wiped her fingers on her jeans and headed toward the door. For a town where she still knew virtually no one, Llanview certainly was turning up plenty of distractions.

Opening the door, she nearly slammed it shut again without a word. "What do you want?" she asked in annoyance, glaring at the teenager standing awkwardly in the hallway, a bandage covering his nose, but not quite enough to disguise the large bruise on his cheek.

"I, uh, I came to apologize," Ryder said, his gaze firmly fixed on the tops of his shoes.

"Oh really?" Carly asked skeptically. "Why? Did Mommy threaten to take away your car?"

Ryder shook his head. "She did that two months ago."

"But she did make you come here tonight," Carly said.

"Yeah," Ryder nodded. "She said she'd make me use a public defender if I didn't apologize."

Carly almost laughed at how horrified he seemed at the thought. "Alright, I'll bite," she said, stepping back. "Come on in and plead your case."

"I, uh, don't really have a case," Ryder admitted sheepishly, stepping into the living room. "I'm sorry for trying to steal your purse this morning."

"Are you sorry you tried to steal it, or are you sorry that I broke your nose?" Carly asked. "Or that your mommy and daddy found out?"

"Um…all of it?"

"I don't get you," Carly said, a hint of disgust in her voice. "I did my research on you, and you've got everything any kid could ever ask for - money, family, friends. And you're risking it all for what? I've got thirty bucks and a maxed out credit card in my purse."

"Yeah, well, maybe I don't want all that stuff anymore," Ryder snapped.

"If that's true, you're a damn fool. Trust me, life outside your little bubble isn't all sunshine and roses. Some of us have mothers who worked three jobs to put food on the table. You really want to give up your cushy lifestyle? What are you doing, trying to get into a street gang or something?" Carly frowned when Ryder didn't respond. "Oh my God, you are. Do you have a death wish?"

"No," Ryder said. "But these guys, they're not like that anyway…they get me. They wouldn't lie to me."

"Oh my God, you're as stupid as you look," Carly scoffed. "Trust me, whatever they're selling, you don't want. Whatever Mommy and Daddy did to piss you off, the second one of them hands you a gun, you're going to wish you could crying back to them."

"You don't get it," Ryder snapped. "They lied to me my whole life!"

Carly frowned and watched him skeptically.

"Go on," she said.

Ryder shook his head. "It's not important."

"I'll be the judge of that," she said. "What did your perfect little family lie about? How big your trust fund is?"

"Who my father is."

Carly stared in surprise. "Seriously?"

"Yeah," Ryder said. "And I had to find out in biology class, they didn't even have the guts to tell me that my dad wasn't really my dad."

"So you're rebelling to prove a point? That you're not his son?" Carly asked.

"You wouldn't understand," Ryder said defensively.

"Oh, no, of course not," Carly said. "Because clearly, you're the only person in the entire world whose mother ever lied about their father. Grow up, kid. I spent almost twenty-four years thinking that my father didn't want me or was some sort of terrible person…only to find out, my mother never even told him I existed. But you don't see me snatching purses to get back at her."

"So you just let it go?"

Carly shook her head. "I haven't spoken to my mother in almost six months," she said. "But I'm not going to screw up my life just to get back at her, either. That would be stupid, and I may be a lot of things, but I'm not stupid."

"So are you going to accept my apology or not?"

Carly sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. I'll think about it." She paused and glanced over at the desk at her cell phone starting ringing. Grabbing it and glancing at the caller ID, she sighed again. "I need to take this. Excuse me for a second."

Ryder stuck his hands in his pockets and glanced around nervously as Carly stepped into the other room, her back to him. Looking at the desk, he gasped quietly when he saw a familiar looking black band with a small cameo pendant attached to it.

"The little hypocrite," he muttered, glancing over his shoulder at Carly before picking it up. "That's bold…lecturing me about stealing and then leaving my mom's stuff out where anyone can see it?"

Shaking his head, he stuffed the necklace into his pocket and shot one more over-the-shoulder glance at Carly before quickly sneaking out of the apartment.

* * *

"When are you coming home?"

Carly sighed and shook her head as she glanced out the window at the alley beneath her room, resisting the urge to throw her phone out the window. "It's nice to hear from you too, Liam. My day wasn't great, thanks for asking, but it's always nice to hear your pleasant voice."

"I didn't call to chit-chat, and you know it," her brother snapped. "When are you coming home?"

"I'm not," Carly said. "I don't care how much you beg, I meant what I said when I left. I have things to figure out that I cannot figure out in New York. As much as I miss you and the girls and the babies, I can't come home right now. I'm sorry."

"I know you're angry, but you're making a mistake, Car," Liam said.

"What are you, sixteen going on forty?" Carly teased. "You're my little brother, not my mom, Liam, so drop it."

"I can't," Liam said. "If you don't come and make things right, you're going to regret it for the rest of your life, Carly."

"I've got time," Carly insisted. "Things are going well here, Liam. I'm about to start classes, make my dream of being an artist come true. And…well, I met him today."

Liam sighed, not needing to ask what _him_ his sister was referring to. "And?"

"We have the same eyes," Carly said.

"And did you tell him who you think you are?"

"I don't _think_, Liam, I know," Carly said. "I haven't figured out the best way to tell him yet, but Cristian Vega _is_ my father."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N:** Well, I'm not home yet...but I find myself with internet this evening, so I thought I'd try to get this chapter up for you all. Enjoy!

* * *

Jessica was curled up on her couch that evening, a cup of tea sitting on the side table as she flipped through a book and waited for her son to return from his apology attempt. She didn't figure anything he said would change Carly McBain's mind about pressing charges - from everything Antonio had told her, the woman was hell bent on seeing Ryder prosecuted - but she figured if nothing else, having to apologize might teach her wayward son a lesson.

"Mom, she's a thief!"

Jessica looked up and frowned as Ryder burst unexpectedly into the room. "Honey, what on earth are you talking about?" she asked. "I thought you were going to see Carly McBain."

"I did," Ryder said, his tone nearly frantic. "And Mom, she's a thief!"

"Well I certainly hope that's not how you opened your apology," Jessica said, setting down her book and sitting up. "Did you even get an apology?"

"Yeah, but that's not the point," Ryder insisted, reaching into his pocket and pulling out the necklace. "Mom, look!"

Jessica furrowed her brow in confusion. "Ryder, where did you get that?"

"I found it in Carly McBain's apartment," Ryder said. "Don't you see, Mom? She stole from you!"

Jessica shook her head and slowly reached her hand up to her own neckline, pulling out the pendant that was hidden under the collar of her shirt. "No, she didn't," she said. "Now where did you get that necklace, Ryder?"

"I told you, it was in Carly McBain's apartment," Ryder said. "It was just sitting on her desk."

Jessica nodded and held out her hand. "Give it to me and go upstairs, Ryder."

"But Mom…"

"Asa Ryder Lovett, I gave you an instruction," Jessica said sharply.

Ryder sighed and placed the necklace in her hand before turning on his heel and storming out of the room. Waiting until she heard the door of his room slam shut, Jessica held her breath as she flipped over the familiar looking necklace and looked for the tiny letters carved on the back. _M~V_. She felt her heart skip a beat as she located them in the middle of the pendant, exactly where they were on her own pendant. There was no doubt in her mind, this wasn't a similar pendant. This was _the_ pendant that her mother had given to her sister nearly twenty six years earlier.

Reaching for her phone, she quickly dialed the familiar number of Llanfair.

"Kevin?" she asked anxiously when he picked up the phone. "You need to come over here right now. It's going to sound crazy, but I think I've got a real lead on Natalie."

* * *

Carly finally set her paintbrushes down around midnight that night, her mind still on the strange visit she'd had earlier that evening. By the time she'd returned from taking the call from her brother, Ryder Lovett had been long gone from her living room. She'd brushed it off as rude teenage antics and figured he apparently wasn't all that interested in getting her to accept his apology after all. She'd gone right back to work on her painting, but the more she thought about it, the more she couldn't help but feel that something was off.

That feeling was still nagging at her as she changed into her pajamas and climbed into bed. It was strong enough that she was sure it would keep her up half the night, but soon enough, she found herself drifting off to sleep, dreaming of the day that had haunted her for months…

_Carly stood at the doorway to the makeshift bedroom that had taken over the downstairs family room and looked around. With the hospital-issue bed at the center of the room, the IV poles and monitors next to it, and the stacks of supplies in the corner of the room, it looked more like a hospital room than a bedroom, and was certainly nothing like the bright, laughter-filled family room they'd all spent so many hours in over the years._

_Turning her attention to the bed, Carly shook her head, not at all surprised to find her mother asleep with both of the babies curled up on her chest. She supposed that at two and a half, her youngest brothers were a bit past being babies, but in her mind, they'd always be 'the babies' - they were, after all, more than twenty one years younger than her, and often mistaken for being her children rather than her brothers when she took them out._

_Her mother stirred slightly as she felt a weight lift off her chest and she opened her eyes to find Carly gently lifting first one little boy and then the next off of the bed before carrying them across the room and laying them down in the crib John had set up so that Natalie could have the boys close to her as often as possible._

_"You know, you really shouldn't let them lie on you like that," Carly scolded gently, lowering the railing on the bed to sit on its side. "They're not tiny anymore, they could easily block one of your IV lines, Mom."_

_"Oh, I don't care about that. I like having them close to me," Natalie said with a wistful smile. "They're already growing up so fast, I have to enjoy them while I can, especially if I might not be around to see the rest of it."_

_Carly frowned and took her mother's hand. "Mom, we've talked about this," she said. "The power of positive thinking, remember? You have to keep telling yourself that you're going to be alright. We may have hit a few bumps in the road with the treatment over the years, but you're the strongest person I know, and if anybody can beat this thing back into remission, it's you. Remember what the doctor said the prognosis was when you were first diagnosed?"_

_"Six to eight months, maybe a year if I got lucky," Natalie recalled._

_"Exactly. That was three years ago, Mom," Carly pointed out. "And yet you're still here. So don't you dare talk like you're not going to see Liam graduate high school or help the girls pick out their prom dresses or cry your eyes out on the babies' first day of kindergarten. You're going to do all those things and more, because you're fighting this."_

_"Sweetheart, I saw the oncologist again yesterday," Natalie said, squeezing Carly's hand tightly. "That's why I asked you stop by today."_

_"What did he say?" Carly asked. "They're still optimistic, aren't they?"_

_Natalie shook her head and took a shaky breath. "They haven't been optimistic for a long time, Carly, and you know that," she said. "It's not looking good, baby girl. I'm still not responding to the new treatments. They're running more tests, but it looks as though the cancer may be spreading again. If it is…well, they're not sure there's much else they can do for me."_

_"Well then, we'll find you a new doctor!" Carly exclaimed. "I'll call Uncle Michael, he'll know someone else who can help you. There's got to be a clinical trial, an experimental treatment…something is out there, Mom, and we'll find it."_

_"Everyone's looking, sweetheart," Natalie assured her gently. "But even Uncle Michael isn't sure that he can find anything."_

_"Mom…"_

_"Carly, every time I try to talk about this, you won't let me say it," Natalie said. "I'm not giving up. I intend to fight this until the bitter end, but if that time comes sooner than we might hope, there are some things we need to discuss."_

_"You don't have to worry about anything, Mom," Carly said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I'm here for whatever you need, and if something happens…it won't, but if it did…you have to know I'd be here for whatever help John needs with the kids."_

_Natalie smiled and nodded. "I know that, sweetheart, but that's not what I'm talking about," she said. "I know that you'll help your brothers and sisters be okay. What I need to know is that _you_ will be okay. I need to know that you'll be happy."_

_Carly shook her head. "No. Mom, I can't make you that promise. You're my best friend, you have been since I was a kid and it was just you and me against the world. I don't even know how I'm supposed to exist in a world that you're not a part of."_

_"Well, the first thing you're going to do is something I should have insisted you do years ago," Natalie said. "You're going to go back to school."_

_"Mom, really," Carly sighed. "I've had this discussion with Dad a thousand times. I hated school. I have a decent job and I'm getting by. I don't need to finish my nursing degree, I'm fine being a nurses' assistant."_

_"Then it's a good thing that that isn't what I'm talking about," Natalie said. "I don't want you to finish your nursing degree, Carly. What I want you to do is promise me that you'll quit your job and go to art school."_

_"You want me to do what?" Carly asked incredulously._

_"Art school," Natalie repeated. "I should have stood up for you to John years ago when you wanted to do that high school program…or again when you didn't want to go to a regular college. You have talent, Carly. You have an incredible, God-given talent and you need to use it. Can you honestly tell me you're really, truly happy doing what you're doing now? Can you see yourself doing that for the rest of your life?"_

_"I need the money, Mom."_

_"I'm not saying it wouldn't be difficult, or that you'll never question if it's worth it," Natalie said. "But I believe in you, and I believe that you'll be successful someday. But only if you take the chance and go for it. If you don't, you'll spend the rest of your life regretting it. You inherited too much talent to waste it starting IVs and changing bandages, Carly. Please, promise me that you'll at least try?"_

_Carly nodded. "Okay. I'll try…for you, Mom."_

_Natalie smiled. "Good."_

_"But what do you mean, I inherited my talent?" Carly asked. "You're not an artist."_

_Natalie hesitated for a moment. "We'll get to that in a minute," she said. "There's one other thing I need to do first."_

_Carly watched in confusion as her mother reached up to her neck and untied the small cameo pendant that Carly couldn't recall ever seeing her take off. "Mom?" she asked in confusion, frowning as her mother pressed the necklace into her hand._

_"Did I ever tell you about this necklace?" she asked._

_Carly shook her head, afraid to even speak as she waited for her mother's response._

_"I didn't have the best role models growing up," Natalie said. "The woman who raised me couldn't have managed basic parenting if her life depended on it. I don't think I even knew what a mother was supposed to be like until I met the woman who gave me that necklace. I know I've made mistakes, and I know I haven't always been the best mother I could be, but…"_

_"Mom, don't be ridiculous," Carly interrupted. "You're the best mother I could have ever asked for, and I know the same goes for Liam and Terry and Eve and especially JJ and little Mikey…how many mothers would do for those boys what you did for them?"_

_Natalie shook her head. "Any mother worth her salt would have done that," she insisted. "What I'm trying to say, is that anything I knew about being a good mother, I learned from the woman who gave me that necklace. She was more of a mother to me in the year and a half that I knew her than the woman who raised me was in the seventeen years I lived with her. The day she gave me that necklace was the first time I ever felt like I had a real family to belong to."_

_"Mom, I can't take this," Carly said. "It's yours."_

_"I want you to have it now," Natalie insisted. "Whenever I look at that necklace, I'm reminded of what it means to be part of a family, and to love and accept someone no matter what they've done. Wherever you end up, whatever you do…when you look at that necklace, I want you to remember me and very much I love you."_

_"I don't need a necklace for that, Mom," Carly said, the tears starting up again._

_"You might." Natalie hesitated for a moment. "Because there's one more thing we need to talk about."_

_"What's that?"_

_Natalie took a breath and steeled herself for what was to come. "Your father."_

Carly awoke with a start, sitting up in bed and looking around frantically. It took her a minute to remember where she was and get her bearings. Reaching out and pulling on her robe, she quickly hurried into the living room, knowing exactly what would calm her nerves. Flipping on the lamp on the desk, she gasped when she saw the empty spot where she was certain she'd left it.

"No, no, no," she muttered, frantically lifting every sheet of paper and nearby book, even dropping to her knees to run her hands along the floor surrounding desk in the vain hopes of finding it. Sitting back, she felt the tears in her eyes as she realized where it had gone. "That little son of a bitch," she said angrily. "I'm going to wring his neck when I get my hands on him."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Well, I take back what I said. Vacations are _great_ for writing...especially when they coincide with the moment that things get really interesting in a story, so the little wheels in my head are on overdrive with plots! In this chapter, we get our first glimpse into Carly's family outside of Llanview, as well as a huge step forward in Llanview. I hope you all enjoy!

* * *

Carly frowned as she pulled open the door and found herself face to face with a rather nervous-looking blonde woman. Stuffing one hand in her pocket, Carly leaned against the door jamb.

"What do you want?" she asked impatiently.

"You're Carly McBain?" Jessica asked, staring somewhat incredulously at the young redheaded woman who could very nearly have been a carbon copy of her own sister - or at least, the version of her sister that she had known twenty five years earlier.

"Depends on who's asking," Carly said.

Jessica almost smiled. That was most definitely Natalie's attitude shining through. "I'm Jessica Lovett," she said. "My son…"

"Is the jerk who tried to steal my purse, then came over here and stole a necklace right under my nose," Carly said. "Yeah, I know who your kid is. I'm sure you're real proud, too. You've done a fine job with that one."

"I'm not going to make excuses for Ryder," Jessica assured her. "He's had some difficult news lately, but there's no excuse for his behavior. That's not why I'm here."

"So why are you here?"

"I came to ask you about this," Jessica said, reaching up and pulling her cameo pendant out from under her shirt.

"That's my necklace!" Carly exclaimed, reaching out as Jessica stepped back. "Give it to me!"

Jessica shook her head. "No, Carly, it's not," she said, pulling the other necklace out of her pocket. "This is the necklace that Ryder took from you. He made the same mistake, and thought that you'd taken my necklace."

"Well, I didn't, so give me mine back," Carly insisted, reaching out again.

"I just want to ask you a few questions first," Jessica said.

"I don't have to answer your questions, that's _my_ necklace," Carly said, her voice trembling as tears welled up in her eyes. "Give it to me!"

Jessica frowned as she watched Carly struggle to maintain her composure. She'd expected anger, bitterness, perhaps a bit of yelling, but the young woman in front of her looked more distraught than anything. Watching her reaction closely, Jessica reached out and placed the necklace in her hands. Clutching it tightly, Carly quickly turned away and walked back into the apartment, but Jessica could see her shoulders shaking from the tears.

Cautiously, she stepped inside the apartment and closed the door behind her. Crossing the room, she gently placed a hand on Carly's elbow and led her to the couch.

"Carly, I'm not accusing you of stealing anything," she assured her as she took a seat next to her, and placing a hand on the pendant around her neck. "But twenty six years ago, my mother gave me this necklace, and she gave another, identical necklace to my twin sister - the same necklace you're holding now."

"How do you even know it's the same one?" Carly asked skeptically.

Jessica reached out and turned the cameo over to reveal the tiny initials on the back. "My mother and her sister wore the necklaces first," she explained. "Those are their initials."

"I don't understand what you want from me," Carly said. "I mean, I get that it's a big coincidence, but…"

"October 18, 2002," Jessica interrupted, earning a questioning glance from Carly. "That was the last time I saw my sister."

"That's almost twenty five years ago," Carly said in disbelief.

Jessica nodded. "That morning, I had a huge fight with her. I accused her of betraying me in a terrible way, and I refused to listen when she tried to explain what had really happened. That same afternoon, there was a horrible misunderstanding, and it led to my sister leaving Llanview. No one in our family has seen or heard from her since."

"That's awful," Carly said. "But I don't see what that has to do with me."

"When she left, she hardly took anything with her," Jessica said. "A few pieces of clothing, a couple hundred dollars, a car that she sold a week later…and that necklace. We both wore them almost every day, to the point that I only notice it if I'm not wearing it. So I don't even know if she meant to take it, or if she just forgot she was wearing it. I'd like to think that she took it to remember our family, but I just don't know."

"I still don't get what you want from me," Carly said.

"All I want to know is where you got the necklace," Jessica said. "Maybe whoever sold it to you has a record of where they got it that could lead to my sister."

"I highly doubt that," Carly said hesitantly.

"I'd like to at least ask them," Jessica said, almost pleadingly. "I don't know if you quite understand how much this means to me, to my whole family. This could be the first real lead we've had to my sister's whereabouts in over two decades. Even if she didn't mean to take it, I can't imagine Natalie would just get rid of it unless she really had no other option. She even sent back the money from the car she sold."

"Natalie?" Carly asked, swallowing hard at the mention of the name.

Jessica nodded. "That's my sister's name."

Carly hesitated for a moment before silently standing up and walking over to the closet. Quickly retrieving the box from the back, she pulled out the framed photograph of her mother, holding it to her chest as she walked back to the couch.

"I don't think your sister sold the necklace," she said quietly, almost not believing what she was saying.

"How can you know that?" Jessica asked.

Carly hesitated for a moment, pulling the photograph away from her chest and staring down at the image of her mother with her arms wrapped around the younger version of herself. "Because," she said, slowly turning the frame around so Jessica could see it. "My mother gave it to me."

Jessica gasped when she saw the photograph, her hand flying up almost involuntarily to cover her mouth in shock. "That's…that's Natalie. That's my sister."

Carly shook her head, glancing down at the photograph and then at the shell-shocked woman on her couch. "No…that's my mom."

* * *

"I don't know how to do this, Mike."

John McBain set the stack of papers on his brother's kitchen table and sank wearily into a nearby chair. Walking over from the doorway, his younger brother frowned at the disheveled state of both his brother and the files.

"John, these are a mess," he observed, flipping through a few sheets of paper.

"I know," John sighed, running his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Natalie always took care of that stuff. When she got really sick last year, I didn't want her worrying about stupid stuff like this, so I told her I had it under control."

"Which was clearly a gross misrepresentation," Michael said. "John, how do you find anything in here?"

"I don't," John admitted. "That's the problem. She knows this is all over my head, and she's calling my bluff."

"John, I really don't think that Natalie is trying to pull a fast one on you at this point," Michael said. "What did she ask for?"

"The life insurance policies," John said, leaning forward and pulling at the corner of one of the pages. "I didn't even know we _had_ life insurance, Michael."

Michael nodded. "Hold on a minute," he said, walking out of the room. John leaned back in confusion as he heard him unlocking a cabinet in the other room before he returned with three file folders and handed them to his brother.

"What are these?" John asked, glancing down at the folders labeled _John_, _Natalie_, _J/N/Kids_.

"Well…"

"Hold on a second," John said, opening one of the folders and looking up at his brother in surprise. "Michael, are these the life insurance policies?"

"Life insurance, auto insurance, homeowners' insurance, health insurance, pension records, immunization records for the kids…all the important stuff," Michael said.

"So I couldn't find them because you have them?" John asked. "What the hell are you doing with them?"

"I have _copies_," Michael stressed. "You should still have them, so that's not why you couldn't find them. But when you decided to take over all of that, Natalie was…well, she was concerned about your organizational skills. So she asked me to keep copies as a sort of back up plan."

"She didn't trust me?"

Michael laughed and shook his head. "Natalie trusts you with her life, John. But she's also been married to you for what? Sixteen, almost seventeen years? She knows you too well to believe that you'd be able to keep track of all of this, especially not while you're trying to juggle work and all the kids' activities."

"She did it," John pointed out. "I can take care of my family, Michael."

Michael sighed and nodded. "I'm not saying that you're a bad parent, John," he assured him. "I'm just saying that you can't do everything, and Natalie knows you well enough to know what was going to fall through the cracks. Come on, you didn't even know that you had life insurance, let alone where the policies were, so was she really wrong?"

"I guess not," John agreed reluctantly.

"John, I know this is hard," Michael said. "I can't even imagine what this is like for you. But you don't have to pick up the whole burden here, buddy. You've got me, and Marcie, and Mom…we're all here for you and the kids. You're not alone in this."

"It's not supposed to happen this way, Mikey," John said, shaking his head as he pushed the folders away. "She's forty six years old, damn it! JJ and little Mikey are barely three. They're probably not even going to remember her!"

"We'll make sure they do," Michael assured him.

John shook his head. "I just feel so helpless, Mike," he admitted. "I don't understand how we can be at this point."

"John, we've exhausted every option available," Michael pointed out. "There was only one left, and you know why Natalie refused that."

John sighed and nodded slowly. "I fought her on that for weeks. I offered to do things…things that I never would have thought I'd consider doing," he said. "I thought she was giving up."

"There were no guarantees, John," Michael said. "As much as it kills me, given the circumstances, she made the right decision for the family."

"I know she did," John said. "That doesn't mean I'm not going to spend the rest of my life wondering what might have happened if we'd been able to do it, though. I don't even know how I'm supposed to function when she's gone."

"You can't think about that right now," Michael said. "She's not gone yet, John. Right now, you just need to focus on being there for her, on keeping her comfortable, and on making sure you and the kids get as much time with her as possible."

John nodded. "I know," he said. "Speaking of which…any chance you and Marcie can keep an eye on the kids for a day or two while I run out of town?"

"You're leaving town now?" Michael asked skeptically.

"I may not be able to give Natalie more time," John said. "But I can damn sure give her the one thing she's afraid to hope for."

"What's that?"

"She wants the whole family together again," John said. "She won't say it, but she's not the only one who learned a thing or two in sixteen years of marriage. From the minute I met her, one thing's been perfectly clear about Natalie - she'd go to the ends of the earth to keep her family together, even when that family was just her and Carly, like it was when I first met her. You know Natalie, she's almost obsessive about it. So the fact that we're not all together now…well, it's breaking her heart, even if she won't admit it."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"Natalie wanted Carly to figure this out on her own, but we don't have time for that. So I have to do the one thing Natalie asked me not to do," John said. "I'm going to bring Carly home, even if she isn't ready. I need you to watch the kids because I'm going to Llanview to get my daughter back."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** Thank you all so much for the reviews on the last chapter! I'm so glad to see so many of you enjoying this story. I know there are still a lot of questions about Natalie, her family and her health, but I promise, all will be revealed in due time. I hope you enjoy this next installment!

And as a side note...only a week left until we get new OLTL! Happy dancing!

* * *

An hour later, Carly found herself sitting in the library at Llanfair, pouring over a pile of newspaper articles Jessica had pulled out to try to convince her that her story was true. She'd seemed sincere, but as Carly had sat there in her apartment listening to Jessica's tale of twins separated at birth, switched as infants, and torn apart by a simple misunderstood conversation, she'd found herself thinking it sounded a bit too much like some contrived _Fraternity Row _plot.

And yet here she was, sitting on the couch as Jessica handed her article after article, all variations on the same theme: _Switched at Birth - Buchanan Baby Drama Resurfaces!_; _New Buchanan Heiress Worth Millions_; _Family Offers Reward for Missing Heiress_.

"I don't believe it," she said, setting down the last page and picking up the photograph Jessica offered of her and Natalie at their first, and only, Christmas together. "My mother really thought she wasn't part of your family?"

Jessica nodded. "We've been looking for her for years to set the record straight," she said. "My father managed to trace her as far as Atlantic City a few months after she left, but after that, she disappeared without a trace. We think she used some old contacts to set her up with a new identity."

"Wow," Carly muttered, still staring at the image of Jessica and Natalie together. "I, um…I don't even know what to say. I spent a lot of time imagining what I'd find when I came to Llanview, but this…this is nothing I could have imagined."

"Why exactly did you come to Llanview, Carly?" Jessica asked curiously. "I love this town, but we aren't exactly a destination for people who aren't looking for something, or someone, specific."

"Well, you could say I was looking for someone," Carly said.

"But not your mother's family?" Jessica asked.

Carly shook her head. "Not Mom's family, no," she agreed. "My family."

"I'm not sure I understand," Jessica said.

Carly sighed and hesitated. She wasn't sure if she should be revealing so much to a woman she barely knew, but something about the whole situation felt very familiar and comfortable. "I came to Llanview to find my father."

"Your father?" Jessica asked in confusion. "So McBain isn't your father's name?"

"John McBain is my stepfather," Carly said. "He and Mom got married when I was seven and a half."

"And you think your biological father is here in Llanview?" Jessica asked.

"I'm twenty four years old," Carly said. "I was born in July of 2003. You do the math."

Jessica frowned and thought for a moment. "Oh my God," she gasped as she realized the truth. "Natalie was pregnant when she left?"

Carly nodded.

"Then who…" Jessica's eyes grew wide as she suddenly saw something in Carly she hadn't recognized before. "Oh God, Cristian?"

"Do you know him?" Carly asked nervously.

"Yeah, you could say that," Jessica said.

"She said she'd been in love with him," Carly said. "Is that true?"

"Yes, it is," Jessica said with a sad smile. "There were a lot of obstacles in their way, but I know that Natalie loved Cristian, and after she left…well, it was very clear that he loved her just as much. The timing was just all wrong for them. I just can't believe I didn't see it sooner."

"See what?"

"You," Jessica said. "At first, I thought you looked exactly like Natalie, but when I really look, you don't. Not that you don't look a lot like her, because you do…but you've got Cristian's eyes, and your nose, it's more like his than Natalie's. And your hair, it's wavy like his, Natalie's was straighter. You're actually kind of a perfect combination of the two of them."

Carly blushed and looked down at her hands. "Really?"

"Definitely," Jessica assured her. "Carly, does Cristian know he's your father?"

"Not yet," Carly admitted. "I was going to tell him as soon as I met him, but then I met him, and I just couldn't find the right words. I don't know quite what I'm supposed to do. I mean, do you just walk up to a guy and tell him you're his kid he never knew existed?"

"So you're sure that Natalie never told him?"

Carly nodded. "He has no idea that I even exist," she said. "Mom claims to have called him a few times and chickened out, but who knows? I'm not sure what to believe these days."

"You sound upset about that," Jessica observed.

"You could say that," Carly said with a dismissive shrug. "My whole life, I never asked her about my father. I just always assumed that he knew and had chosen not to be in my life. I thought, if he doesn't want me, then I don't want him. If I even considered the possibility that Mom hadn't told him about it, I always assumed that it was because he was some sort of horrible person and was protecting me."

"You were never curious?"

"Not really," Carly admitted. "I didn't have an easy life, but I was happy. Mom worked long hours, but she was always there when I needed her. Until she married John, I didn't know we needed anyone else to be a real family, because we didn't. I had a great childhood, and I love my family. I never questioned that it was exactly the way it was supposed to be. I trusted my mother completely, and I trusted that she would have done the right thing. That was my mistake."

"How did you find out?" Jessica asked.

"She told me," Carly said. "About six months ago, she sat me down and told the truth."

"I don't get it," Jessica said. "Why now?"

Carly hesitated again. "My mom's sick," she admitted. "Really sick. Back in April, we thought she might not make it. She was the only person who knew who my father was, and I guess she thought she owed it to me to tell me the truth while she still could."

"How sick is sick?" Jessica asked in concern. "She's only forty six years old."

Carly sighed, not missing how Jessica had paled at the mention of Natalie's illness. "She's got breast cancer," Carly explained. "It was pretty advanced by the time they found, and they've basically been two steps behind from the minute they started treatment. When she was diagnosed, they gave her six to eight months. A year later, they told her maybe six more months. In April, they said a month, tops. She got into a new clinical trial in May, and according to my brother, she's still holding on."

"Haven't you spoken to her yourself?" Jessica asked.

"The day she told me about my father I walked out of her house and I haven't been back since," Carly said. "I have to sort out a lot of things before I can figure out if I can forgive her for lying to me all those years."

"But if she's sick…"

"She was diagnosed over three years ago," Carly said. "I can't count the number of times I've heard people say that she's dying. And yet, she's still here. Trust me, she's not going anywhere. My mother is way too stubborn to die on anybody else's schedule."

* * *

"Hey you."

Natalie looked up and smiled as Michael walked into her hospital room. "Hey yourself," she said with a tired smile. "You on shift?"

"In about an hour," Michael said, glancing down at his watch. "Figured I'd drop in and make sure you weren't causing trouble for the nurses again."

"Who me?" Natalie asked innocently. "I'm a perfect angel, Dr. McBain, I promise you that."

"Well, sure," Michael said. "And next month, you're going to be on the cover of Vogue, right?"

"That's the plan," Natalie laughed. "So, has he gone to get her?"

Michael nodded. "He left about half an hour ago," he said. "You know, sometimes it's frightening how well you know him. You were completely right about him messing up your filing system, by the way. It's a good thing I had that paperwork."

"I told you that you were putting too much faith in his organizational skills," Natalie said. "Listen, I know I said that keeping that stuff would be temporary…"

"Relax, I've got it covered," Michael assured her quickly. "I know how to keep my big brother in line."

"That's good," Natalie said, glancing away as she nodded. "He's…they're all going to need it." Natalie shook her head as she saw Michael start to protest. "Mike, you're a doctor. You know what's going on here better than anyone, so don't you dare sit there and lecture me about positive thinking or tell me everything's going to be alright. It's not alright, I'm not going to be alright, and as much as I'd like to believe the lie, my family isn't going to be alright either."

Michael sighed and grabbed his sister-in-law's hand. "I'm sorry, Natalie," he said. "I wish I knew what to say. I really thought this last clinical trial had a lot of potential."

"I don't blame you, Michael," Natalie assured him. "You fought for me to get into that trial. And it did help, right? I wasn't even supposed to make it to July, and here I am, almost in October. So that's at least something. This isn't your fault, Michael. We all knew that getting into remission was a long shot."

"I just wish there were something else I could do," Michael said. "If there were any way to get you that experimental drug…"

Natalie shook her head and gently squeezed his hand. "You can't pull off miracles, Michael," she said. "I looked at that drug a hundred different ways, and there's just no way to make it work. We've already maxed out our credit cards, mortgaged the house, borrowed against our pensions and life insurance policies, cashed out the kids' college funds…that drug is expensive, and there's just no way we can afford it after everything we've already tried."

"If there was anything that Marcie and I could do…"

"Mike, I know you loaned John the money to keep the house from being foreclosed over the summer," Natalie said. "You've got two kids who are a few years away from college. We can't ask you for anything else."

"Natalie, if I had enough in the college funds to pay for that drug, we would do it," Michael said. "The kids can get loans for college. I haven't found a bank yet that's going to loan me another sister-in-law. Where am I going to find anyone else who'll put up with my moody brother?"

Natalie smiled. "If he does find someone new, please try to be nicer to her than you were to me, okay?"

"Hey, I was great to you," Michael protested.

"Sure you were. Remember when John and I got engaged the first time and you tried to talk him out of it?" Natalie asked.

"Okay, fine, I was a little hesitant about your relationship at first," Michael conceded. "But can you blame me? You were a rookie cop, just out of the academy, and John was a big-time detective. He could have done a lot for your career if you'd been using him."

"Which I wasn't."

"I know that now," Michael said. "And hey, I've been pretty darn nice since then."

"I suppose so," Natalie agreed, glancing over at the folder he'd carried into the room. "Is that the form?"

Michael nodded and picked up the folder. "We don't have to do this now, Natalie. You don't have to sign today…or ever, if you don't want to. Take some time, talk it over with John…"

"He doesn't want to hear it," Natalie said. "No, I need to do this, Michael. I've fought as hard as I can, I've used every ounce of strength I have, but I can't do it anymore. There are no options left to fight with, and I'm so damn tired. Give me the form."

Michael sighed and handed her the single sheet of paper. "I'll have to go get the hospital's lawyer to witness it if you want to sign," he said. "Used to be anyone could witness it, but now they want it very official."

"Then I guess you should go get him," Natalie said. "I'm ready to sign, Michael."

"Alright," Michael said, nodding as he slowly stood up and looked at his watch. "I've got rounds in a few minutes, but I'll send him a message and get him up here when I can."

Natalie nodded, turning her cheek as Michael bent over and kissed it softly. "Try to get some rest," he said, quickly checking her IV before heading out the door.

With a heavy sigh, Natalie picked up the paper Michael had left behind and tried not to cry. The words written in bold at the top seemed to mock her as she read them. _Do Not Resuscitate Order, Patient Consent Form_. Nothing about this situation felt like anything she would ever consent to. She'd spent the past three years trying treatment after treatment, fighting her way into every clinical trial or experimental drug she could find, and yet it seemed that it was still coming down to this.

Hearing the door open again, Natalie looked up, expecting to see Michael or a nurse. "You forget something?" she asked, her voice trailing off when she realized that it was not her brother-in-law or any other hospital employee standing in her room.

"Hi Natalie."

Natalie's eyes grew wide when she heard his voice and suddenly recognized the man she'd only known from pictures and phone calls.

"Kevin?!"


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N:** So sorry for the huge delay in getting this chapter posted! I promise, the next one will be up much more quickly. I hope this was worth the wait!

* * *

"How the hell did you find me?"

Kevin grinned as he stepped into Natalie's hospital room. Looking around, he set the small bouquet of flowers he was carrying onto a side table before pausing at the foot of the bed to get a good look at his sister. The spunk and attitude that he remembered from their many phone conversations twenty five years ago was certainly still there, but compared to the vibrant woman in the photographs he'd seen, this was a completely different woman. Her skin was pale, almost ashen, and there was a slight blue tint to her lips that he knew meant she wasn't getting enough oxygen. She was thin, too, almost dangerously so, and there was a sadness in her eyes that he couldn't remember ever seeing there before.

"Stop staring," Natalie snapped impatiently. "Haven't you ever seen a sick woman before?"

"Well, yeah, but…" Kevin repeated in disbelief.

"Cancer sucks," Natalie said with a shrug. "Now seriously, how the hell did you find me? And what do you want? I don't have enough hours left in my life to waste even one playing games with you, Kevin Buchanan."

"Alright," Kevin agreed, stepping forward and sitting down in the chair Michael had left at Natalie's bedside. "I found you through your daughter."

"Carly? Is she alright?" Natalie asked anxiously.

"As far as I know, she's fine," Kevin said. "My nephew discovered that she had a cameo necklace exactly like the one Mom gave to Jessica, but since Jessica was wearing hers when he told her, she knew it had to be yours. She had this idea that you had sold it, and that whoever Carly got it from might lead us to you. I let her go ahead with that angle because I didn't want to get her hopes up, but I did a little digging on Carly. Early this morning, I came across an internet posting about a scholarship she had won a few years back, and it had a picture of the two of you attached. After that, it was just a matter of making a few calls to get your address and then hopping a quick flight. I stopped by your apartment, but no one was there, and a neighbor told me I could find you here. So here I am."

"Wait…how did you know I didn't sell the necklace?"

"Call it a brother's intuition," Kevin said, smiling sadly at the confusion on Natalie's face. "I remember calling home the Christmas that Mom gave you the necklace, and something about the way you talked about it made me think that you'd never sell it. It meant too much."

"I didn't mean to take it," Natalie said. "I honestly didn't realize I had it on until I was halfway to Atlantic City, and then, I don't know, I guess I just wanted a little reminder of how things were for the little bit of time that I actually had a family. If Viki wants it back, I'll tell Carly to give it to her…assuming I can get her to talk to me."

"I didn't come to ask for the necklace back," Kevin assured her. "Natalie, you had every right to take that necklace. It was a gift from our mother. She wanted you to have it."

"No, she wanted her daughter to have it," Natalie said. "Not some stupid con artist who had no connection to her other than being dumb enough to trust the word of crazy Allison Perkins."

"Natalie, did you ever wonder how Allison managed to fake a DNA test identifying you as Mom's daughter while she was locked up in St. Anne's?" Kevin asked.

"Allison managed to do a lot of things while she was locked up," Natalie said. "I wouldn't put much outside the realm of possibilities."

"It never occurred to you that maybe she didn't fake the test?"

Natalie frowned. "What are you getting at?"

"It wasn't a lie, Natalie, and there was no fake DNA test," Kevin said. "You really are my sister. That's why I'm here."

"That's not funny," Natalie insisted. "I think you should leave, Kevin."

"And I think you should shut up and hear met out," Kevin said, waiting until he got the expected look of surprise from Natalie before he continued. "You left after you heard Uncle Bo tell Jessica that she was Mom's biological daughter, right?"

"Yes," Natalie said, nodding slowly. "I didn't need to stick around to hear the rest of Jessica's rant about how I'd deceived you all. I figured I'd save everyone the trouble of kicking me out by disappearing on my own."

"The only problem with that is that no one was going to kick you out," Kevin said. "You missed the most important part of Uncle Bo's news. Those DNA tests didn't just show that Jessica was Mom's daughter…they showed that both of you are her biological daughters. You and Jessica are twins."

"That's not possible," Natalie said. "I don't know what kind of sick joke you're playing here, but it's not funny, Kevin. Your mother had one child, one daughter. I think she would have known if she'd given birth to twins. As someone who's personally delivered twins, I can tell you that's something you don't tend forget."

Kevin sighed and nodded. "You know about Mom's DID, don't you?"

"Another thing you don't usually forget is when one of your supposed mother's alters tries to frame you for the attempted murder of your stepfather," Natalie pointed out.

"Yeah, I suppose that would leave an impression," Kevin agreed. "Believe me, Mom was just as shocked as you are right now when Uncle Bo told her that both of you matched her DNA. It took a while to put all the pieces together, but what we figured out was that on the day you were born, Mom gave birth to one of you, then when Dad stepped out of the room to call the family, one of Mom's alters took over and delivered the other twin. Mom never knew that there were two babies, and the obstetrician took that second baby away before anyone else knew there were two baby girls."

"So the whole thing about Allison switching babies was bogus?"

"Oh no, that happened," Kevin assured her. "Originally, you came home with Mom and Dad, and Jessica went to Roxanne Balsom. When Allison kidnapped you, she did switch the babies. I think that's why Mom and Dad couldn't tell they had a different baby, because Allison _did_ bring their daughter home to them. She just didn't bring back the same daughter that she took."

"That's absurd," Natalie said in disbelief. "Why would she do that? Why go to the trouble of switching us?

"Have you ever heard of a guy named Mitch Laurence?" Kevin asked.

Natalie shook her head. "No, I don't think so."

"I wish I could say the same," Kevin said. "He's the man who was behind the whole charade. Allison worked for him. He was a psychopath and he was hell bent on making Mom suffer. Around the time that Mom got pregnant, he had…well, he had assaulted her, and one of her alters took over and repressed the memory. When he found out that Mom was having twins, he thought that one of you was his daughter and the other was Dad's. After you were born, he thought Jessica was his child. When he realized that she was the one who had gone to Atlantic City, he ordered Allison to switch the two of you. So his daughter came back to Llanview to Mom and Dad, and you…"

"I got Roxanne Balsom, mother of the year," Natalie said sarcastically. "Lucky me. So Jessica's father is a psychopath?"

"No," Kevin said. "I said Mitch thought he was her father. He was being lied to because his plan hadn't worked. Dad is Jessica's father…and yours too."

"It's just not possible," Natalie insisted. "I know what I heard. It can't be true."

"You made a mistake," Kevin said, hesitating before deciding to take a chance and reaching out to grab her hand. "Natalie, look at me. You made a mistake, and we've spent the last twenty five years looking for you so that we could tell you that. Whether you like it or not, you _are_ my sister. You are my mother's daughter, and you are a Buchanan. You have parents who love you and miss you, you have a twin sister, you have brothers and nieces and nephews…you have a family, Natalie. We may not have been the best one the first time you came into our lives, but you can be damn sure that this time is going to be different."

* * *

"I don't think I can do this."

Jessica laughed and slipped her arm through Carly's elbow as they walked through Angel Square. "Of course you can," she said. "You came all the way to Llanview to find Cristian and tell him the truth. You can't back out now, not when he's literally one hundred yards away from us."

"He's…" Carly frowned as she looked across the square and saw Cristian sitting on a bench, having not yet noticed the two women walking toward him. Shaking her head, she stopped and turned toward Jessica. "What did you do?"

Jessica shrugged innocently. "I may have called and asked him to meet me here," she said. "You can't tell me you don't need a little nudge."

"I need more time," Carly insisted. "I'm not ready yet."

"Carly, take it from someone who's had more than one surprise family member pop up over the years - there's never a good time for this, but the longer you wait, the harder it's going to be for both of you," Jessica said. "I don't know that there's a right way to do this, but you don't need some big dramatic announcements or months and months of waiting. You just need to sit down with him and tell him the truth. No fireworks, no drama, just the facts."

"What if he doesn't believe me?" Carly asked. "Or what if he doesn't want to be my father?"

"He'll believe you," Jessica assured her. "And if he doesn't, we'll march him right down to the hospital and have a DNA test to prove it. And as for him wanting to be your father…well, there's not really a whole lot of choice in the matter, is there?"

"I suppose not."

"Carly, I've known Cristian Vega since I was fifteen years old," Jessica pointed out. "He's a good man. I'm not saying he won't be surprised, but you have to understand, after your mother left, he was devastated. He looked just as hard as our family did, and he's going to be glad to finally know the truth. Trust me, once he gets over the shock, he's not going to let anything come between him and his daughter. He'll want to do the right thing."

"But that's not what I want," Carly said. "I mean, I want to get to know him, but I don't want him to want to know me just because he thinks he has to."

Jessica chuckled and shook her head. "That's not what I meant, sweetie," she said, offering her niece a reassuring smile. "You're not going to be some sort of obligation, I can promise you that. All I meant was that you don't have to worry about his reaction. He's the sort of guy that's going to be genuinely happy. He loved Natalie, and he's going to love you."

"You really think so?"

"You'll never know if you don't try," Jessica said, gently nudging Carly forward as Cristian turned his head and spotted them.

"Jessica," Cristian said questioningly, slowly approaching the two. "What's going on? I wasn't aware you knew Carly."

Jessica smiled. "Oh, we go way back," she said. "In fact, I don't know if you two have been properly introduced. Cristian, this is Carly. My niece."

Cristian's eyes grew wide as he looked from Jessica to Carly, who simply nodded nervously. "Your niece? But…I wasn't aware Joey or Kevin had a daughter."

"They don't," Jessica said. "Neither does Rex, and Cord's daughter is much older…as you're well aware."

Cristian winced at the veiled reference to his disastrous relationship with Jessica's cousin/niece. "Then whose daughter is she?"

"Think about it," Jessica said. "Look at her."

Cristian frowned as he took another look at Carly and started connecting the dots in his head - the familiar smile, the voice that he couldn't get out of his head…it all made sense. "Natalie?" he asked hesitantly. "But how?"

Carly rolled her eyes. "You really need someone to explain where babies come from?"

"I…no, of course not," Cristian stammered. "Jessica, this is amazing. You found Natalie after all these years?"

"Not exactly," Jessica said. "But Carly did find us…even if she wasn't looking for my family."

"Who were you looking for?" Cristian asked, turning back to Carly.

"I think that's my cue to step back," Jessica said, pulling out her phone. "I'm going to go make a few calls."

"No, don't…" Carly began.

"You'll be fine," Jessica assured her with a quick pat on the arm. "I'll be just on the other side of the square if you need me."

"What's going on?" Cristian asked as Jessica walked away. "If you weren't looking for Jessica and her family, who were you looking for?"

Carly took a deep breath to steady her nerves as she looked Cristian in the eye. "My father."

"Your…"

"I was born July 3, 2003," Carly explained. "I think you can do the math."

Cristian's brow furrowed as he counted backward in his head. "Dios mío," he muttered. "You're…I mean, I'm…I'm your father?!"


	11. Chapter 11

_Cristian's brow furrowed as he counted backward in his head. "Dios mío," he muttered. "You're…I mean, I'm…I'm your father?!"_

Carly took a shaky breath as Cristian clenched and unclenched his fist, looking over Carly's shoulder toward Jessica and then back to his daughter - a fact that he still couldn't quite wrap his head around.

"This was a mistake," Carly said quickly, shaking her head as she took a step back. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have just blurted it out like that. I, um…maybe I shouldn't have come at all."

"Wait!" Cristian reached out and grabbed her elbow as she began to turn away. "Look at me."

Carly felt like every inch of her was shaking as she looked up and locked eyes with looked almost like a reflection of her own.

"You're my daughter," Cristian repeated, a hint of disbelief still hanging in his voice. "How is that even possible?"

"You and my mother…"

"No, I know _how_ it's possible," Cristian interrupted quickly. "It's just…how did I not know? Your mother…Natalie…Natalie would have told me. Why wouldn't Natalie have told me?"

"I don't know," Carly said. "All she told me was that there were circumstances that had kept her away. I didn't even know your name until a few months ago."

"I can't believe that Natalie would have kept something like this from me," Cristian said. "It doesn't make any sense. She would never have done that. Natalie Buchanan would never had done that to me…or to you."

Carly shrugged. "You'd have to ask her," she said. "I don't know what was going through her mind back then."

"Why didn't _you_ tell me before?" Cristian asked. "Why go to all the trouble of pretending to be an art student?"

"That wasn't pretend," Carly said. "Those are my paintings, and I do want to be an artist. I just wasn't sure it was the right time to tell you. I mean, I wasn't really sure how you'd feel about me…and from what Jessica's told me, Mom didn't exactly go about telling her parents the right way, and I really didn't want to screw this up, but I don't want to mess up your life, either. There isn't really a guide book for these sorts of things."

"Sometimes I think Llanview needs one," Cristian observed drily.

"Excuse me?"

"It's nothing," he said, quickly shaking his head. "I guess no one's ever really prepared for this sort of thing. I don't even know what I'm supposed to do with this."

"You don't have to do anything," Carly said. "I don't expect anything from you. I'm not looking for money or anything like that. I just…I wanted you to know, that's all. I figured, you've got the right to know. But I don't expect you to want to know me or feel like you have to suddenly be a part of my life or anything."

"Carly," Cristian said gently, reaching out and grabbing her elbow as she turned to walk away. "I didn't mean it like that."

"No, it's okay," Carly assured him. "I don't need anything from you. I just wanted you to know I existed, that's all."

"Well, I want more than that," Cristian said. "I don't know how we do this, but I want to get to know you, and I want you to know me, and my family."

"Family?"

Cristian nodded. "I have a wife, and a daughter, so you've got a little sister. And my mother, your grandmother, she's going to want to meet you…sooner rather than later, if I know my mother." Cristian paused as he saw Carly grow slightly pale. "Only when you're ready, of course," he quickly assured her.

"No, it's okay," Carly said. "It's just…this whole thing is turning out to be more than I expected."

"How's that?"

"I only came to Llanview to find you," Carly said. "And yeah, I kind of expected that you might have a family. I didn't expect to find Mom's family too, though. It's a lot more people than I'd anticipated."

"Big families can take some getting used to," Cristian said, frowning as Carly laughed and shook her head. "What?"

"It's nothing," she said. "It's just that I've had years to get used to a big family. I've got three little brothers and two little sisters, so I know a thing or two about it. And my stepfather, his family was around all the time. I'm just not used to the idea of Mom having family. She always said she didn't."

"She didn't know," Cristian said.

"Yeah, that's what Jessica said."

"It's been one of my biggest regrets," Cristian said. "She came to see me the night she left town, and I don't think I tried hard enough to convince her to stay. It only would have taken a few hours. She left my apartment in the middle of the night, and Jessica came by at six in the morning looking for her. If I'd tried a little harder, maybe the last twenty-five years would have been different."

"Did you love her?" Carly asked curiously.

"With all my heart," Cristian assured her. "I loved Natalie very much."

"So how come my mother told me that the two of you were never in a real relationship?" Carly asked.

"She told you that?"

Carly nodded. "She said that she loved you, and that she believed that you loved her, but that there were reasons beyond her control that you two couldn't be together."

"That's a pretty good explanation for it," Cristian agreed. "It's really a long story."

"Right," Carly said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "I get it."

"No, you don't," Cristian said. "But you should. It's a long story, but it's one that you deserve to hear."

"Really?"

Cristian nodded. "Come on, I'll buy you a cup of coffee and you can ask me any questions you want."

* * *

"Wait just a minute," Kevin interrupted, leaning back in his chair as he stared at Natalie incredulously. "_You_ became a cop?"

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Natalie asked innocently.

"Oh, gee, I don't know," Kevin laughed. "My troublemaking, self-proclaimed con artist of a little sister. Yeah, cop would have been my first prediction too."

"Not just a cop," Natalie pointed out. "A detective."

"Detective in charge of criminal forensics," Kevin nodded, repeating the title she'd shocked him with a few minutes earlier. "That's rather impressive, Natalie."

"What'd you think I was going to do, end up on the streets without the Buchanan money?" Natalie asked. "I can take care of myself, Kevin. I made my own way."

"I don't think any of us ever doubted that you would," Kevin said. "After all, you are a Buchanan. And you're probably more like Asa than anyone in the family. Scrappy, determined, stubborn…not afraid to get your hands dirty."

"I didn't really have a choice," Natalie said. "Twenty four years ago, I walked out of this same hospital with a baby in my arms and no place to go. It was sink or swim for both of us, and I'll be damned, but I was determined that Carly was going to have a better shot at life than anyone ever gave me."

"And you made quite the go of it," Kevin agreed. "It sounds like you've got a wonderful family."

"They're pretty great, yeah," Natalie said. "I think you'll like John. He's a good man, but he's got a lot on his plate, and he's going to have even more all too soon."

"What do you mean?" Kevin asked. "Is he expecting an uptick at work or something?"

Natalie sighed and shook her head. "I just meant, it's not going to be easy for him being a single parent. I don't expect you or anyone to feel like you owe me something, but it might be nice if you or Jessica or Joey or even Viki could just drop in once in a while to give him a bit of a break."

"Single parent?" Kevin asked in confusion. "What are you talking about? Are you going somewhere?"

Natalie shook her head again and looked away for a moment. For the last hour, it had been so easy. She'd been so caught up in catching up with her brother - a concept that still hadn't quite sunk in all the way - that she'd nearly been able to forget the reality of her situation. Now, though, it was all hitting her again as she knew she'd have to let yet another person down.

"Kevin, I'm sick," Natalie said. "_Really_ sick."

"But you're in the hospital," Kevin pointed out. "They're treating you and you'll get better. That's how it works, Natalie. You're only forty six years old."

"Not everyone gets better in a hospital," Natalie said. "And they haven't been treating me for months now. They're making me comfortable, that's all they can do at this point."

"But…"

"Kevin, I have breast cancer that was stage four by the time I started treatment," Natalie explained. "The day I had my first chemo, they told me I had maybe three months left, and that was over three years ago. I've had pretty much every available treatment, and nothing's worked. There's nothing left for me to try."

"There has to be something," Kevin said. "An experimental treatment or a clinical trial…something."

"There's nothing else, Kevin," Natalie said, biting her lip to slow the tears she felt in her eyes. "You think I haven't tried everything I can? I've got two sons who are going to grow up without any real memories of me. My little girls haven't even hit puberty yet, let alone those teenage years where a girl really needs a mother. I'm not going to see my son graduate high school. I won't get to make things right with Carly. Trust me, if there were _anything_ that we could do, I would do it. The fact is that I'm out of options at this point. So right now I have to focus on my family and making sure that they're as okay as they can be once I'm gone. Because I don't have much time left at all."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **I know, I know, it took forever to get this up...I'm so sorry! We're getting to some big moments in the story, so I hope you all will stick with me, delays and all! Please enjoy this next chapter...and don't hate me too much for the cliffhanger at the end :)

* * *

"Okay, let me get this straight," Carly said, setting down her coffee cup and staring at Cristian. "You slept with my mother while you were engaged to another woman? A woman who was pregnant with your child?"

"A woman who I _thought_ was pregnant with my child," Cristian corrected. "Jen and I were not in love, but I thought I was doing the right thing. Then when your mother showed up that night…Jen had been acting odd all day, and we'd had a huge fight, and Natalie…well, she was so upset and one thing just led to another. The timing was wrong, but you have to know that I loved your mother very much, Carly, and I'd like to believe that she loved me as well."

"I think she did," Carly said. "I don't know why I believe she was telling the truth, because God knows she's lied about a lot of things, but she said she loved you, and I believe that she did."

"I spent a lot of years looking for her after she left," Cristian admitted. "It took me a long time to move on."

"But you did?"

Cristian nodded, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a small picture from his wallet. "Here," he said, handing it across the table. "That's my wife, and my daughter…your sister."

"She's pretty," Carly said, looking down at the photograph. "They both are."

"I'd like for you to meet them," Cristian said. "Maybe not right away, but when you're ready."

"Do you really think they'll want to meet me?" Carly asked nervously. "I mean, won't your wife hate me?"

Cristian laughed. "Carly, Erin knows I had a life before I met her. She knows all about your mother and how much I loved her. It might take some getting used to, but she'll be perfectly fine with it all. You're my daughter and…"

"She's _what?!_"

Cristian gulped and paled slightly at the unexpected interruption. Turning around, he smiled nervously at the angry-looking older woman standing behind him.

"Mama, hi," he said. "What are you doing here?"

"It's my diner," Carlotta pointed out dryly. "Now, I believe I asked you a question."

Cristian nodded and shot an apologetic glance at Carly, who looked nervously down at her hands. "Mama, this is Carly McBain. My daughter."

Carlotta shook her head as she stared at Carly. "Cristian, I need you to tell me two things," she said slowly, turning to her son.

"What?"

"First, I need you to tell me that you have not known about this girl her entire life and are just now telling me," Carlotta said.

"I just found out today, Mama," Cristian assured her. "What else do you need to know?"

Carlotta sighed. "Please tell me, for the love of all things holy, that you did _not_ have a child with Natalie Buchanan."

"Carly, maybe you should excuse us for a minute," Cristian said gently.

"I don't think so," Carly said, crossing her arms over her chest as she leaned back in her seat and stared at Carlotta. "If she's got something to say about my mother, I want to hear it."

"So you are Natalie's daughter," Carlotta said. "Cristian, have you had a paternity test done?"

"I don't need one," Cristian said.

"Cristian, Natalie Buchanan has always been a good-for-nothing gold digger who has no problem bulldozing lives to get what she wants," Carlotta pointed out. "What makes you think she didn't see your name in the paper and decide to see what she could get from you?"

Cristian scoffed. "What do you think she did, Mommy, just magically create a child the exact age any child we had together would be?"

"I'm not looking for money," Carly added. "There's no scam going on here, Mrs. Vega."

"I'll be the judge of that," Carlotta said. "Assuming you're not some actress Natalie hired, there's still no proof that you're my son's child. It's been twenty five years since Natalie Buchanan showed her face in this town. Where exactly has she been hiding you for all these years? And you just show up all of a sudden now that my son is a successful art professor? I don't buy it. That little tramp would…"

"That's enough," a male voice said sternly from the doorway of the diner. "You don't get to talk about my wife that way."

Carly's eyes grew wide at the familiar voice and she jumped to her feet. "John?!" she muttered incredulously. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I came for you," John said. "It's time to stop running around on this wild goose chase and come home, Carly. Your mother needs you."

"Bullshit," Carly spat. "She's had twenty-five years and all she's done is lie to me."

"Is that really what you think?" John asked. "You seem to be forgetting the parts where she worked her ass off to keep food on the table and buy you clothes and take care of you and…"

"Don't you dare lecture me on what my mother did for me," Carly interrupted angrily.

"Carly, I don't have time to stand here and argue with you," John said. "You know your mother is sick. If you don't come home and make things right with her…"

"No, you know what, she made her decision twenty five years ago, and I'm making mine now," Carly said. "I'm going to stay here and I'm going to get to know my family. She can just wait."

"Carly…" Cristian said gently, trying to step in.

"No, you know what, he's always defending her and I'm sick of it," Carly snapped, turning back to John. "You can take your running out time spiel and show it, because I'm not interested."

"Carly, you need to calm down and listen," John said, his voice rising slightly.

"Oh, screw you!" Carly screamed. "I'm done being manipulated by her!"

Carly knew she was in trouble as soon as she saw the look in his eyes. "Carlotta Victoria McBain," he said slowly but forcefully. "If you think for one second that I would use your mother's illness as a negotiating tactic, you don't know me very well. I know that you're angry with her, and I don't expect you to forgive her in the few days she has left. But if you think that Liam or Terry or Eve will get over you not being there, then you're in for a rude awakening. Your brothers and sisters need you, Carly, and if you're not there…"

John paused as his cell phone began to ring. Quickly pulling it out, he paled slightly when he saw his brother's name on the caller ID. "Michael?" he said anxiously, pressing the phone to his ear. "What's going on?"

Carly bit her lip nervously as she watched him listen to whatever her uncle had to say. Finally, he hung up the phone and turned slowly back toward her, unshed tears in the corners of her his eyes. Carly held her breath, having never once seen him cry in the twenty years he'd been in her life.

"Daddy?" she asked tentatively, not even bothering to notice the hurt look on Cristian's face at her use of the term. "What happened?"

John shook his head and sighed as he put the phone back into his pocket. "I'm going home. You do what you want, Carly," he said, resignation in his voice. "It's probably too late now anyway."

* * *

"This is a good one," Natalie said, pausing as she flipped through the photographs on Kevin's tablet. "When was this?"

Kevin glanced over Natalie's shoulder and smiled. "That was about a year ago," he said. "Mom and Dad's fifteenth wedding anniversary. I think that was the last time the whole family was all together…well, everyone except you, of course."

Natalie nodded, then frowned when she caught sight of someone in the corner of the picture. "Is that Rex?" she asked in confusion. "What's he doing in your family picture?"

"That's a longer story than we've got time for," Kevin said with a frown of his own. "Let's just say there've been some interesting developments on the family front since you've been gone."

Natalie looked as though she were going to press for more information, but eventually just shrugged and flipped to the next picture. "Who's that with Jessica?"

Kevin leaned in again and this time, he smiled. "That's Ryder, her son."

"He looks like he's about Liam's age," Natalie said. "How old is he?"

"Um…sixteen, I think. Let's see, he was born January 10, 2011, so…yeah, sixteen."

"January 10th?" Natalie asked skeptically.

"Yeah, why?"

"It's nothing," Natalie said, shaking her head. "It's just…well, he's not about my son's age, he's exactly Liam's age. Liam was born on January 10, 2011 too."

"You and Jessica had kids on the same day?" Kevin asked. "Well that's very…um, twins, of you."

Natalie nodded and smiled slightly. "Kevin?"

"Yeah?"

"Promise me that you'll make sure they know each other."

"Who?"

"I want my kids to know Viki," Natalie said. "I want them to have the family I didn't. My husband is a great guy, but he can be a little standoffish sometimes, so if he won't take them to Llanview, I want you to promise me you'll find a way for them to meet her."

"Natalie…"

"If all of this is real, if I really am your sister…just promise me that one thing," Natalie insisted. "Please."

"Alright," Kevin nodded. "I promise."

"Thank you," Natalie said, closing her eyes briefly as Kevin took her hand again.

"Natalie?" Kevin frowned when she didn't respond, jumping to his feet as an alarm began to sound. "Natalie?!"


	13. Chapter 13

Michael sighed as he tucked his phone back into the pocket of his lab coat and stepped into Natalie's room. Looking around, he cringed at the steady rhythm of the ventilator, the beeping of the cardiac monitor, the sounds of the machines keeping his sister-in-law alive. He knew if she woke up, however unlikely that was at this point, she'd kill him for this. There had been a split second when he'd rushed into her room that afternoon when he'd nearly told the crash team to stop, to just let her go, but no matter what wishes she'd expressed, he just couldn't do that to his brother, not when Natalie hadn't technically signed the DNR.

"How long does she have to stay on these machines?"

Michael looked over at Kevin and frowned. He hadn't kept up with many people in Llanview, so he'd been surprised to find Kevin Buchanan in Natalie's hospital room that afternoon, but until now, he hadn't had time to question it.

"We don't know," he said. "Look, don't take this the wrong way, but what the hell are you doing here? Shouldn't you be off buying a company somewhere? Why do you care about Natalie?"

"She's my sister," Kevin said calmly, looking over his shoulder at the woman lying on the bed. "She's my little sister."

"That's impossible," Michael said. "Natalie's been married to my brother for almost seventeen years, and she's never said a word about having a brother. Her family is her husband and her kids. That's it."

Kevin shook his head. "Dr. McBain, you lived in Llanview long enough to hear the stories. The baby switch? Allison Perkins, Mitch Laurence, the missing Buchanan twin?"

"That was _Natalie_?" Michael asked in disbelief. "You're telling me my sister-in-law is a Buchanan?"

Kevin nodded. "When she thought that Allison had arranged some sort of fake DNA test and that she wasn't actually my mother's daughter, she changed her name, got a new identity, the whole nine yards. It wasn't until Carly came to Llanview this week that we made the connection and found her."

"Well, that explains a few things," Michael said.

"Like what?"

Michael shrugged. "Like why Natalie refused to come with John to my wedding when I lived in Llanview," he said. "Or why she never talked about anything in her life before Carly was born. I half-suspected she was in the witness protection program or something from the way she acted."

Kevin shook his head. "Nope, just hiding from a huge misunderstanding," he said. "It just kills me that we finally found her and now it might be too late. I just don't understand how it got this bad. My mother and my other sister both survived breast cancer. I thought we'd made big strides in treating this in the last twenty years."

"We have," Michael agreed. "In most cases, the prognosis is very good. But Natalie's case is…well, it's unique."

"How so?"

"Natalie was stage three when she was diagnosed," Michael explained. "She had a lot of good treatment options available, with a pretty decent prognosis, except for one tiny little problem."

"What?"

"She was almost three months pregnant at the time," Michael said. "They only found the cancer because the doctor discovered a lump in her breast when she went in for her first prenatal visit. Natalie had had twin girls about eight years earlier, and it was a difficult delivery. There were a lot of complications and her chances of ever being able to conceive again were slim to none at that point, so getting pregnant was not something she'd anticipated, especially at forty two years old. But Natalie loves her kids, and she loves being a mother. When the oncologist told her that she'd have to choose between starting treatment and continuing the pregnancy, I don't think she even had to think about it. By the time she delivered the twins in September, the cancer had advanced to stage four."

"And there's really nothing else they can do?" Kevin asked.

"She's been through so many treatments," Michael said. "About two months ago, they were prepping her for a possible new treatment when they discovered that the cancer had spread to her brain. That pretty much made her ineligible for almost every treatment out there."

"Almost every treatment?"

"There was one possibility," Michael admitted. "An experimental drug designed specifically for end stage cancers that had metastasized. But it wasn't a viable option for Natalie."

"Why not?" Kevin asked.

Michael hesitated. "Well…to be frank, my brother and Natalie are bankrupt," Michael said. "They've spent every cent they have trying to save Natalie's life. They're about to lose their house, they've maxed out their credit cards, they even cashed in the kids' college funds. Hell, Natalie doesn't know it, but I cashed in _my_ kids' college funds to pay for her last round of treatment. There's nothing left, and this new drug would cost nearly half a million dollars to even try one round."

Kevin stared at Michael incredulously. "Are you telling me my sister is lying here dying and they're not even trying to help her because of money?"

"In a sense, yes," Michael said. "There's no guaranteeing that the treatment would have worked, but her oncologist thought it would have been worth a shot if they'd been able to afford it."

"Would it still work?" Kevin asked. "In her condition now, would the treatment still be affected?"

"I don't know," Michael said. "It's a possibility, but I'm not an oncologist, I can't say for sure. It'd probably be a long shot."

"Do it," Kevin said. "If they need the money up front, I'll write a check."

Michael shook his head. "I know Natalie well enough to tell you she'd never take your money, Kevin," he said.

"You'd rather have her keep her pride than her life?" Kevin asked skeptically as Michael frowned and shook his head. "Yeah, I didn't think so. Besides, it's not my money, it's Natalie's. She's a Buchanan, she's got a trust fund…hell, she's got more money than any of us, seeing as hers has just been sitting there collecting interest for twenty five years. Trust me, half a million wouldn't even start to make a dent in how much money Natalie actually has. So for God's sake, call the oncologist and start the damn treatment!"

* * *

Carly stared in shock at John, trying to make sense of the whole situation. She'd always expected that someone would come and try to talk her into going home, but she honestly hadn't expected it to be her stepfather. Their relationship had never been bad, but she'd certainly never been as close to him as her brothers and sisters were. If she'd ever asked, she knew he'd have sworn up and down that it didn't matter to him that he wasn't her biological father, but whether it was all in her head or not, she'd always felt just a bit different than her siblings. So when she'd heard his voice, she'd been surprised, but not nearly as surprised as she was to see the look in his eyes.

For as long as she could remember, Carly had looked at John as the decisive one in their family - he knew exactly what he wanted, where he was going, what he was doing. She wasn't sure she'd ever seen him struggle with anything close to doubt. Even when her mother swore up and down he was wrong, he was steady in his convictions. But now, standing in front of her in a little diner in Pennsylvania, she didn't see that strength, that certainty…for the first time, Carly thought he looked utterly lost.

"What do you mean, it's too late?" she asked hesitantly. "Mom's not…?"

John shook his head. "Her heart stopped but they managed to resuscitate her," he said.

"Oh God," Carly gasped. "I…I should call her."

"Sweetheart, you can't," John said gently. "Michael said they had to put her on a ventilator. She's not breathing on her own."

"A ventilator?" Carly asked tearfully. "But…no, Mom didn't want that. She was adamant about that, she had been for years. No machines. Uncle Mikey knows that. How…"

"She hadn't signed the DNR," John explained. "Michael wasn't there when it happened, and the doctors had to do what they thought was best."

"It's not what she wanted," Carly repeated.

"I know," John said.

"So what do we do now?"

John frowned and sighed. "Like I said, what you do is up to you," he said. "I'm going back to New York to…to say goodbye to my wife, and then I'm going to sign the paperwork giving them permission to do what she wanted…to let her go."

Carly nodded, glancing over her shoulder at Cristian and Carlotta before looking back at John. "I'm coming with you," she said decisively. "Could you…can I just have a minute?"

John hesitated before nodding and turning to walk out the door. Waiting until he was out the door, she slowly turned back to face her father and grandmother.

"I have to go," she said. "I'll come back, I promise, but my mom…"

"Natalie's dying?" Cristian's asked in shock, not quite believing what he'd just overheard.

"I thought she had more time," Carly admitted. "I really thought she had more time."

"Go," Cristian said quickly. "Carly, go to your mother. Be with her. I'll be here when you get back."

Carly nodded. "About John…"

Cristian shook his head. "Someone else raised you, I know that," he said. "I'll have to figure out how to deal with that, but now is not the time."

"Thank you," Carly said, hesitating slightly before leaning forward and wrapping her arms around him for a second before letting go and turning to catch up to John.

"You're just going to let her go?" Carlotta asked, turning to Cristian.

"What did you want me to do, Mom?" Cristian asked. "Tell her not to go to her dying mother's side? Because I'm sure _that_ would have be a brilliant way to start off our relationship."

"Natalie…"

"Don't," Cristian interrupted. "Don't say it."

"I didn't say anything," Carlotta protested.

"No, but you were about to," Cristian said. "And whatever it was, it wasn't going to be nice. You don't like Natalie, I get that. You never liked her. But just remember, whatever your personal feelings, she's Carly's mother, and Carly loves her. So if you want to have any sort of relationship with your granddaughter - with the child who, for reasons that I can't even imagine, Natalie named after you - you're going to have to remember that."


	14. Chapter 14

"You can ask, you know."

John glanced over at Carly in the passenger and frowned. "Ask what?"

"John, you've been looking at me out the corner of your eye every five minutes since we left Llanview three hours ago," Carly pointed out. "We're going to be driving for at least another hour, so you might as well just ask me about him."

"There's not much to say, is there?"

Carly sighed and crossed her arms over her chest. "You really suck at this communicating thing, you know that?"

John laughed. "Your mother's been telling me that for over twenty years."

"Yeah, well, she's right," Carly said. "He's not a bad guy, you know. Cristian…my father…he's nice."

John nodded slowly. "I didn't doubt that he would be."

"So you didn't tell Mom not to tell me?"

John looked over at his stepdaughter in surprise. "Where on earth did you get an idea like that?"

Carly shrugged. "I don't know," she said. "It just seemed weird to me that Mom would keep something like this from me, so I guess…I don't know, it's stupid. I just thought maybe you might have asked her not to tell me."

"Carly, your mother and I never talked much about her life before she had you," John said. "When I would ask about your father, she'd tell me that he was a man she'd loved very much, who circumstances had separated her from, and who because of those same circumstances, couldn't know you."

"And you bought that?"

"I knew she was hiding something, if that's what you're asking," John said. "I knew she had a past, and there were things she wasn't proud of, but I had my own issues to work through. I wasn't in any position to judge or push the issue."

"And you were okay with that?" Carly asked. "Don't take this the wrong way, but you're not exactly the type to let things go, John."

"No, no I'm not," John agreed. "But the more I pushed, the more she'd pull away. And then once she got pregnant with Liam, and we got married…well, over the years it just became simpler not to talk about it than to have another fight. Honestly, after a while it got very easy to forget that your mother had a life that didn't include me."

"You weren't worried about what she was hiding?"

John shook his head. "The first time I met your mother, I was looking to recruit her for an undercover op, remember? I ran a background check on her then and she came up clean. Whatever she was hiding, it wasn't criminal, just painful for her."

"What name did you run?"

John frowned. "Her name, of course," he said. "Natalie Andrews."

Carly nodded and glanced over at her stepfather. "Except that's not her name."

"What?"

Carly sighed. "Pull over, John," she said. "There's a lot more to this story that you need to know…and you probably aren't going to believe me when I tell you most of it."

* * *

Viki set down her book and looked over at her husband as they heard the front door slam. "Are you expecting someone?" she asked.

Clint shook his head. "No, I…" he began, pausing as the door to the library opened and Jessica rushed in.

"Jessica, darling," Viki said, smiling as she stood up. "What a pleasant surprise. We weren't expecting to see you today. Is everything alright?"

Jessica sighed and shook her head. "We need to talk," she said. "I need to talk to both of you."

"What's going on?" Clint asked in concern.

Jessica hesitated for a moment as she looked back and forth between her parents. She'd been dreading this conversation from the moment Cristian had explained why Carly had rushed out of town, but she knew there was time to put it off.

"Whatever it is, it'll be alright, Jessica," Viki assured her.

"No," Jessica said, shaking her head again. "It's about Natalie, Mom. I know where she is."

Viki's hand flew to her mouth as she sank back down onto the couch and Clint hurried to grab her hand. "What do you mean by that?" Clint asked, looking up at Jessica. "We've been looking for Natalie for decades and we haven't had so much a hint of lead. Sweetheart, I know you want to find your sister, but…"

"No, Dad, I'm not saying I have a lead or some clue to chase," Jessica interrupted, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a photograph Carly had given her earlier. Glancing down at it one more time, she handed it over to her mother.

"Oh dear God," Viki gasped, her eyes widening at the sight of the image of Natalie smiling up at her. "This is…where did you get this?"

"She's in New York City, Mom," Jessica said. "Her daughter gave me that picture."

"Natalie has a daughter?" Clint asked in surprise.

Jessica nodded. "Actually, Natalie and _Cristian_ have a daughter," she clarified. "She was pregnant when she left Llanview."

"Oh my heavens," Viki muttered, not taking her eyes off the picture. "Cristian…he helped us look for her. He didn't…?"

Jessica shook her head quickly, understanding what her mother was asking. "He didn't know," she said. "He only found out about Carly earlier today."

"This is unbelievable," Clint said, taking the picture from Viki's hands and staring at the daughter he knew only from photographs. "This whole time, she's been in New York? You're telling me we looked everywhere for her, and this whole time she was five hours away?"

"Apparently she changed her name, got a whole new identity," Jessica said.

"Have you spoken to her?" Viki asked anxiously. "Does she know the truth now? Is she coming home?"

Jessica sighed and shook her head. "It's not that simple, Mom," she said, taking a seat across from her parents as she prepared to break their hearts. "Natalie can't talk, Mom. We're too late."

* * *

"This is going to work, right?" Kevin asked anxiously as he watched a nurse insert a new IV into Natalie's arm.

"Mr. Buchanan, as I've explained already, there are no guarantees here," the oncologist said from the other side of the bed. "This treatment was developed for highly advanced cancers like this one, but it was a long shot when I suggested it to your sister last month, and her condition has deteriorated significantly since then. It would be unethical of me to make you any promises at this point."

"But there's a chance," Kevin said. "This gives her a chance."

The oncologist sighed. "Yes, this gives her a small chance."

"Alright, that's enough badgering the doctor," Michael announced as he walked into the room. "Jim, how're we looking?"

"Status quo for now," the oncologist said. "I'm not comfortable removing any life support unless we see some significant improvements in her vital signs. It'll be a few days until we know if it's worked, Michael, possibly longer than that."

Michael nodded. "We appreciate you trying this," he said. "I know she's a little beyond your ideal trial candidate."

The doctor shook his head. "I've been on Natalie's case for over three years now, Michael. I saw her through her pregnancy, through five rounds of chemo and radiation, through more experimental treatments than I can count…you're not the only one who wants to see her beat this thing."

"I know, Jim," Michael acknowledged. "We all appreciate it."

"I'll try to check back in later," he said, stepping away from the bed and patting Michael on the shoulder before heading out of the room.

"Shouldn't her husband be here?" Kevin asked. "Where the hell's your brother during all of this?"

"He went to Llanview to get Carly," Michael explained. "Natalie would never say it, but she wanted all of her children here at the end, and that's what he was trying to do. He's on his way back now."

"And the children?"

"My wife is picking up Liam and the girls from school as we speak," Michael said. "And my mother will be by later with the babies, but we didn't see any point in rushing them over here. They won't understand what's going on anyway."

"So now what do we do?" Kevin asked. "We just wait?"

"We've done everything possible," Michael said. "She's getting the treatment by IV, she'll have her whole family here…there's nothing left that we can do. So yes, now we just wait."


End file.
